And So It Is
by Angel Writes
Summary: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute bliss but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.
1. Chapter One

The idea for this story was conceived in my head when I was reading through the OVA1 DVD Extra Manga for Koisuru Boukun for about the fiftieth time this week. You all know the one I'm talking about with Morinaga envisioning all the horrible things that would have happened if he had showed up five minutes and twenty-five seconds later to save Senpai from being molested. Then I thought to myself 'What if Morinaga arrived in time for that particular incident but was weeks too late for the first one?' There we have it. 'And So It Is' was born.

**Disclaimer**: Koisuru Boukun and all of the characters contained therein are the sole property of Takanaga Hinako. I own nothing. I profit nothing. I am nothing.  
><strong>Title<strong>: And So It Is  
><strong>Author<strong>: AngelIsOnCrack  
><strong>Rating<strong>: Moderate  
><strong>Synopsis<strong>: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute bliss but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.  
><strong>Chapter Note<strong>: Laying the brickwork for 'And So It Is.' Can be considered an AU due to my complete disregard for the proper timelines of both 'Challengers' and 'Koisuru Boukun.' Major differences are that 'Challengers' has ended without Morinaga's confession about his feelings to Senpai and that kiss that tasted like tobacco never happened. Where did all that go? Maybe they were figments of Morinaga's hyperactive imagination. Who knows.

Chapter One

Tatsumi Souichi was not in a good mood. Regardless of his reputation as being a constant downer, even Souichi himself would turn tail and run if the situation that he met himself on the streets occurred. As ridiculous as an idea like that was, it was still the truth. He was in a shitty piss-poor mood and nothing was likely to turn it around. He was alone in the university lab doing nothing while the seconds of the clock ticked by above him. It was times like these that made him curse the judicial system for it's decision to deem murder a moral sin. Case by case scenarios didn't count for anything these days?

Souichi glared at his cellphone that lay silent near him. It's dead demeanor rankled him severely. He had been sitting there and waiting for a certain dark-haired moron for nearly forty-five minutes now. Did that jerk not understand that a good portion of his lab credit depended on Souichi's overall review? And would it kill that asshole to let him know why the fuck he was so late? The situation made Souichi want to hit something. Hard. Preferably something that was inconsiderate, empty-headed, and made up of many bones that could be easily shattered.

The sudden shrill call of his cell jolted Souichi out of his kouhai-directed fury. So the coward had finally decided to beg for his forgiveness. Well, if he thought that Souichi would just roll over and give it to him then he was sorely mistaken. And stupid. Souichi snatched his phone up and was about to accept the call when the blinking caller ID caught his eye. He grimaced at the name that flashed on the tiny screen. For someone supposedly intelligent and ahead of his time, the person on the other line couldn't take a damn hint. When was that infuriating man going to realize that Souichi did not want to be buddies and would rather have nothing to do with him at all? If the guy wasn't an assistant professor and vital to Souichi's semester grade then he would have knocked him out the moment he met him.

Souichi tossed the phone down with a clatter and reached a hand up to loosen his hair tie. Annoyed by the ringing that continued on as well as the man behind the incessant noise, Souichi tugged the tie out and let his long hair flow freely around his shoulders. He ran furious fingers through the soft locks and smoothed his fringe down with the palms of his hands.

Souichi rarely let anyone see him this way in public. He knew how much younger and vulnerable he looked with his hair down and it irritated him to all levels of hell. But touching his hair calmed him down for some reason or another. Kanako would always tease him about the fact that while most people pull at their hair when frustrated, he caressed his like he was in love with it. His family assumed that was why he kept his hair so long. With a temper as short as his, Souichi needed as much hair as he could get his hands on. Maybe they were right but the reason for his choice of hairstyle wasn't anything to waste time thinking about. It was just hair after all.

"Senpai, I'm sorry I'm late," a breathless voice gasped from behind him. "There was a short blackout in my area last night while I was asleep and my alarm didn't go off this morning."

Well what do you know. Ask and you shall receive. An outlet for his frustrations had just presented itself nicely. With a deadly grin, Souichi slowly spun around to greet his errant kouhai.

* * *

><p>Morinaga Tetsuhiro had barely a moment's time to blink before a fist came colliding with his unguarded face. A resounding crash echoed through the lab as Morinaga hit the ground taking a tray of beakers with him. Disbelief etched across the younger man's bewildered face as he looked up into the reddened face of his furious senpai.<p>

"Senpai!" he wailed as he gingerely held a palm to this throbbing cheek. "I said I was sorry! I don't control the power plants!"

"Idiot!" Souichi hollered in return. "Do I care about your fucking problems? You should be here when I say you should be here! No fucking exceptions! Now get up and clean this mess. I can't concentrate in it."

Morinaga sighed and nodded. He slowly got to his feet and carefully walked over to the lab closet where he pulled out a broom and dustpan. Souichi watched silently as his kouhai swept the pieces of broken glass away.

"I really am sorry, Senpai," Morinaga said amidst his sweeping.

"I know," Souichi snapped back. "Just don't let it happen again. When you're finished, I need you to look over the cultures from Experiment B. I need a second opinion on them."

Morinaga's head shot up at Souichi's order. "You need my opinion, Senpai?"

Souichi rolled his light eyes at Morinaga's bright expression. "I asked for it, didn't I? Don't get all fucking namby-pamby about it. I need a solid opinion on this and none of these other morons know this experiment as well as you do. Now hurry the hell up. You've wasted enough of my time waiting for you today."

Morinaga watched in awe as the older man stalked away, his long hair that he had surprisingly left down today whipping behind him. A smile emerged on his face and he ducked his head down to insure that his bad-tempered Senpai didn't hear the chuckles that fell from his lips. So he was worth much more to the other man than he would openly admit. Morinaga would gladly accept the veiled compliment that Senpai had unknowingly paid him. Morinaga was so heart-over-mind in love with him that he would accept a lit stick of dynamite from his beautiful senpai if it were handed to him.

_"Morinaga, will you hurry the fuck up?"_

_"Yes, Senpai," the dark-haired man replied dreamily._

_"Honestly, Morinaga," Souichi continued on angrily. "I don't know why I keep you around!"_

_"Senpai, don't say such harsh things like that," Morinaga replied with a pout. "Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't speak in such a way."_

_"Y-you think I'm beautiful, Morinaga?" Souichi stuttered out with a light blush on his smooth face._

_"Of course, Senpai. I noticed you from the moment I stepped foot onto this campus. You stood out like a beacon amongst the darkened skies of a lost harbor. Your lovely long locks beckoned out to me like the famed Sirens of the mystic ages. Senpai, you look absolutely stunning today."_

_Souichi's shy gaze slipped down to the floor as his blush intensified. "Well, I-I was just trying to get your attention, Morinaga-kun. There are so many beautiful women here and I assumed that someone as handsome as you would never even consider a couth person such as I."_

_Morinaga let the broom slip from his hands to the floor with a clatter. He stepped over it and strode over to his trembling senpai. Gathering the slim body of his beloved within his arms, he slid his hands into that heavenly mane of hair. "Senpai, I could care less about the most beautiful woman on the planet because right now I hold the most beautiful man. And he is the one that is meant for me."_

_"M-Morinaga-kun?" Souichi gasped._

_"No, Souichi," Morinaga interrupted with a finger on those plump pink lips. "It's Tetsuhiro."_

_He claimed that beckoning mouth with his own and knew that-_

"Oi! Morinaga! Wake the fuck up! Honestly why do I bother keeping you around?"

"But, Senpai," Morinaga replied thickly with the image of the other man trembling in his arms still fresh in his mind, "you look really good today. I like what you did with your hair."

Souichi stopped in his tracks and tugged at the ends of his hair. A growl bubbled up from within his slender frame and he pulled his hair up into a low ponytail and held it with one hand. Morinaga looked on in amusement as Souichi's head whipped from side to side as he frantically searched for his hair tie. Gleefully, Morinaga picked up the wayward tie from it's forgotten position on the table nearest him and quickly shoved it into his pocket.

"Move," Souichi ordered as he elbowed Morinaga out of his path. "Where the hell did I put the damn thing?"

"Put what, Senpai?" Morinaga questioned with as much feigned innocence that he could muster.

"My lighter, Morinaga. I'm going to torch that fucking hideous sweater that you have on and do the entire world a favor before it goes blind."

"Senpai! I happen to like this sweater! It was a gift from Yamaguchi-kun."

"Then you should kick him in the crotch because yellow is not your color. That disgusting shade isn't _anyone's _color."

"Senpai!"

"Well dont ask me stupid questions then! What else would I be looking for? My tie!" Souichi stood in the middle of the lab with one hand still placed in his hair holding it together and the other on his hip. "Have you seen it?"

Morinaga couldn't seem to hear the words aimed at him. He was much too busy trying not to drool unattractively at the sight before him. Senpai looked absolutely mouth-watering with the way his hip was cocked to one side and his hand buried away from view. His posture just drew attention to his slim waist and wondrous torso. How could Morinaga get him to let his hair down again? If he shouted out "Fire!" and scrambled away like a maniac, then that should be enough, right?

"Oi, Morinaga! Answer me!"

Morinaga blinked himself to the matter at hand or rather the furious gorgeous man matter at hand. "No, I haven't seen it but I am ready to look at the cultures now."

"I can't work with my hair in my face. It'll get annoying!"

"Senpai, you said it yourself. You already wasted enough time waiting for me. Should we spend more looking for a hair tie?"

Souichi slitted his eyes in response to Morinaga's statement to which the taller man widened his own in continued false innocence. For a moment, Morinaga was certain that the other man had seen through his act and would tackle him to the floor in a mess of fists and flying kicks. Not that Morinaga would mind having his senpai on top of him. No, he wouldn't mind that at all.

"Senpai?"

"Whatever," Souichi muttered as he released his hold on his hair and let the tresses fall much to Morinaga's delight. "Get over here."

Morinaga nodded in joy and quickly dumped the glass into a wastebasket and put the broom and dustpan away. He walked over to his senpai who was standing next to the tray of cultures. Morinaga took a seat on a stool and was slightly startled when the tray was shoved to him.

"Check it," the irate older man growled before seating himself next to Morinaga.

Morinaga tried to immediately follow Senpai's orders but such a simple thing was too much to be asked of him at that moment. The man was just too gorgeous with his hair loose even when he was angrily placing slides in the viewfinder of the microscope. The way it flowed and framed Senpai's body sung out to him with it's silky call. It was almost too much for him to bear.

"I am going to kill you very soon, Morinaga."

"W-what am I checking for?" Morinaga responded swiftly in an effort to ground himself and get to work. He really didn't want to anger Senpai even more than he already had with his tardiness.

"You'll know it when you see it," was the stunted response he received.

"Well, yes...but if I know what to specifically search for then I can give you my take on it faster."

"Had you been here when I said to be here then I would have had the time to give you the full report. I have no time for that now."

"Senpai, I already explained that. I'm sorry!"

"Check it, Morinaga!"

"Senpai!"

Silence sat cheerfully on Morinaga's shoulder. He waited for a few more minutes for a response but none came. The other man continued to view the slides in stony stillness. Morinaga huffed in disappointment and gazed down at the cultures but found himself unable to concentrate on them at all.

He wished that he could tell Senpai everything. He wished that he had the strength to look Tatsumi Souichi square in those gorgeous eyes and tell the man how much he loved him. How long he's loved him. How his heart fluttered like the quick wings of a hummingbird whenever the bespectacled man was near. How absolutely perfect he was in every aspect of the word.

Morinaga found himself once again admiring the lean lines of Senpai's profile. This was pathetic. Watching from afar for four years and not doing a damn thing about it. Morinaga would scoff at such behavior if it weren't his own. Maybe now was the time. What was he waiting for? A graven invitation? After all, Tomoe's boyfriend was still alive and breathing. Senpai couldn't despise homos as much as he claimed to, right?

Morinaga took a deep breath and plundered on before he lost his twitchy nerve. "Senpai?"

"What?" the man in question muttered with eyes still trained onto the slides.

"Senpai, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Souichi replied as his long fingers twirled at the knobs of the microscope.

"Well, Senpai...I...well,I...Senpai, could you look at me, please? This is very important."

The man continued to work despite the pleading undertone that had begun to seep into Morinaga's voice. "Important to you or important to me?"

"What?"

"I said is it important to you or me? I'm not going to break into my work schedule for some silly thing, Morinaga."

Morinaga's face flushed in indignation. So his confession of pure unfiltered love wasn't even going to be considered important now? Did this insufferable man not understand that he was about to bare his entire heart here?

"It's important to me!"

Souichi turned his head and fixed a look of scrutiny on Morinaga at the unexpected outburst. His elegant eyebrows rose as the younger man floundered for words.

Morinaga wanted to hit himself. He wanted this moment to go as perfectly as he always dreamed and instead he was a flushed undignified mess. Why was he always so ineloquent around Senpai? And why couldn't that man make things easy for him for once?

"A-and it's important to you too," Morinaga said softly. At least he hoped with all his being that it was.

Souichi's stare bore through Morinaga for a few more seconds before he sighed and turned on his stool to face Morinaga. "Fine. What is it?"

This was it. He had Senpai's full attention now. It was time to sink or swim, kill or be killed, soar or crash in a giant ball of all-consuming fire. He had to do this right or his entire world would go up in flames and black smoke and his heart would burst it's capillaries causing him to writhe in agony and-.

"Morinaga, what the fuck is it?"

Morinaga snapped back to attention. Right. Senpai. Confession of love. Got it. "Well, Senpai...I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now and I think the best way is to just come out with it. Senpai, I lov-."

"Tatsumi-kun!"

Morinaga whirled around in surprise at the boisterous voice that resonated through the lab. He was met with the sight of a muscular older man with slicked black hair and a prominent mustache on his upper lip. The man strolled in without a glance at Morinaga and his stunned expression and threw an arm around Souichi's shoulders. Morinaga couldn't help noting how the man's bulky arm seemed to cause Senpai's tall frame to shrink down in comparison.

"Tatsumi-kun!" the overly loud man proclaimed as he jostled Souichi to and fro. "Do you have any idea of how difficult it is to contact you? I've been trying to reach you all day!"

"I've been busy, Miyoshi-sensei."

"You don't say! And here I was thinking you were ignoring me!"

"No, Miyoshi-sensei."

"Because you wouldn't ever do such a rude thing as purposely ignoring me, would you, Tatsumi-kun? I wouldn't like that very much. No, not at all."

"It would be very hard to ignore a man like you, Miyoshi-sensei."

The larger man let out a hearty chortle at Souichi's response. He raised a hand back and patted Souichi on the back soundly causing him to pitch forward off of his stool. "Tatsumi-kun, you kill me!"

Morinaga caught his senpai quickly as the long-haired man jolted forward into him. "Are you all right, Senpai?"

"I'm fine," Souichi hissed and brushed the concerned man away. He sat himself on the stool and fixed his glasses with a huff. Turning towards the still-chuckling man, he stiffened with annoyance. "What did you need, Miyoshi-sensei?"

"Oh, right!" the burly man exclaimed once his laughter had died down. "Some co-workers and I are going out to have a couple of beers later tonight. You should come."

"No."

"Oh, dont be that way, Tatsumi-kun. Come!"

"I don't think so."

"Why not? You got a hot girl to entertain, is that it? Who is she, Tatsumi-kun? Is she one of my students? You lucky guy!"

Souichi fell forward once more as the exuberant man gave the smaller Souichi another pat on the back. Morinaga stiffened in surprise when his senpai landed face-first into his crotch. He couldn't help the grin that spread on his face as Senpai scrambled up with a sputter.

"You okay, Senpai?" he asked through his wide smile.

"Shut up, Morinaga," Souichi replied icily before setting a glare onto the brawny man. "There is no girl, Miyoshi-sensei. I'm just busy."

"With what? You're always working, Tatsumi-kun. Come on. Live a little!"

"I have other plans," Souichi stated and pointedly fixed his gaze on Morinaga. "With him."

Both Morinaga and the other man were taken aback in surprise. It was the stranger who shook out of it first. He studied Morinaga intently as he spoke.

"And who is this?"

"Morinaga Tetsuhiro," Souichi answered. "He's my lab assistant. Morinaga, this is Assistant Professor Miyoshi. He transferred here not too long ago."

Morinaga pulled himself out of his shock at the introduction and politely bowed to the other man. He rose to find the piercing gaze of the professor still on him. "It's nice to meet you, Miyoshi-sensei."

"Have I taught you before, kid?"

"No, sir."

"I see," the professor said and took his unnerving eyes off of Morinaga. "I love the new look, Tatsumi-kun. It suits you."

Morinaga felt a flare in his chest when Professor Miyoshi reached down and ran a hand through Senpai's hair. A maelstrom of emotions ate at his ribcage at the sight of Senpai's hair cascading over and around Professor Miyoshi's entirely undeserving hand.

"It's against my will," Souichi said as he angled his head away from the professor's grasp. "I can't find my hair tie anywhere."

Morinaga fought the violent urge to push Professor Miyoshi away from his senpai. The older man was fiddling with the ends of Souichi's hair despite the smaller man having attempted to move away from him. Seeing the scene in front of him, Morinaga regretted taking Senpai's tie. If he hadn't been a selfish loon then he would have saved Senpai's mane from the molestation it was currently receiving. But he couldn't yank the tie out of his pocket and yell "Oops, here it is!" at this point. Senpai would kill him and probably kill Professor Miyoshi as well. Morinaga couldn't enjoy that if he were dead too.

He searched around himself quickly and snatched up a rubber band that he had tossed to the side a few days earlier. "Here, Senpai! You can use this."

Souichi glanced at the rubber band and shook his head. "Those hurt."

"I've got something," Professor Miyoshi piped up and reached into his back pants pocket. "Here."

Morinaga watched dumb-founded as the man presented a vibrant red ribbon to Senpai. "Where did you get that?"

Professor Miyoshi glanced at Morinaga with unabashed disdain before answering. "A student of mine left it behind after my morning class. I was keeping it to return to her but I'm sure she won't mind if Tatsumi-kun borrows it. She's a nice girl."

"No thanks, Miyoshi-sen-."

"Hold still now, Tatsumi-kun," the professor broke in and swiftly gathered Souichi's hair into a high ponytail. The man deftly wrapped the ribbon around and knotted it into a bow. Beaming pridefully, he stepped back to admire his handiwork. "There you are! Absolutely great. I really like it, Tatsumi-kun."

Morinaga could just feel the anger radiating off of his senpai and for once it wasn't aimed at him. He bit his lip at the tight jaw and clenched fists he saw but was completely amazed nonetheless at how oblivious Professor Miyoshi was to the murderous aura surrounding the silver-haired man. Or perhaps he simply didn't care?

"She's probably looking for this right now so just take it back."

"Nonsense, Tatsumi-kun. She probably hasn't even realized she left it behind."

"Whatever. I don't want it so just t-."

"Leave it in, Tatsumi-kun." Professor Miyoshi had stepped closer to Souichi and in the blink of an eye had his hand at the back of Souichi's neck. "I like it. Leave it in."

"Miyoshi-sensei, I have other plans tonight. I'm sorry. Did you need anything else?" Souichi bit out between gritted teeth.

The professor gazed down at the ribbon and nodded slightly before releasing his touch on Souichi's neck. "No, I'm off now. Take care to remember what I said about working too much, Tatsumi-kun. I don't want to see that pretty face of yours full of premature lines and wrinkles, okay? It was good to meet you, Matsumoto-san."

Morinaga ignored the blatant flub at his name and bowed deeply. He didn't rise up until he heard the sound of the lab door sliding shut. He settled himself comfortably on the stool and turned his gaze to Senpai.

He wasn't surprised at all to find Souichi piercing holes through the lab door with his eyes. His senpai was a very private person that absolutely abhored physical contact whether it be congenial or not. Not to mention the manner in which Professor Miyoshi completely disregarded Souichi's obvious discomfort was certainly enough to bring Senpai to a boiling point.

"Some guy, huh, Senpai?" Morinaga questioned tentatively, not wanting to bring the other man's wrath down upon himself.

A tense silence filled the air around the two men. Morinaga felt absolutely terrible at that moment. It was all his fault. Souichi had already been in a bad mood because of that blackout and Morinaga's resulting alarm clock mishap and now the light-haired man was practically seething due to Professor Miyoshi's behavior.

"Senp-."

"Give that to me," Souichi snapped and snatched the rubber band out of Morinaga's hand. He yanked the red ribbon out and tied his hair into a low ponytail once more. After tossing the offending ribbon onto Morinaga's lap, he resumed his study of the microscopic slides.

"But, Senpai...won't that hurt to take out later?"

"I don't care," Souichi replied heatily. "Just shut up already. Your voice is getting on my nerves. And get rid of that."

Despite his senpai's harsh words, Morinaga was pleased with the situation. So it seemed that there existed a person that enraged Senpai even more than he did. Perhaps Morinaga could figure out a way to get the older man and Senpai in the same room more often. Morinaga was sure that he would look better and better to Senpai by comparison. Morinaga contemplated the idea for a bit before the unbidden image of Professor Miyoshi stroking Senpai's hair brought him to a screeching halt. Professor Miyoshi in the same room as his senpai was most certainly _not _a good idea. Well, at least when nobody else was around.

"Morinaga," Souichi called out to him unexpectedly.

"Yes, Senpai?"

"What was it you were gonna tell me before that idiot came in?"

"Oh!" Morinaga sputtered at Souichi's words. His confession of love. He had been interrupted by the professor but he now found it difficult to summon up the shaky courage that he had earlier. It pained him to admit that the moment had passed.

"Well?"

"Forget it, Senpai. It's not important."

Souichi looked like he was about to call out the contradiction of Morinaga's claim now from his claim earlier but instead shook his head and resumed his work. "Get rid of that."

Morinaga glanced down at the red ribbon lying placidly in his lap. "Really, Senpai? I thought you looked good with it. Red is definitely your color."

"I don't care about that! Get rid of the fucking thing!"

"I can't just throw it away, Senpai. It doesn't belong to either of us."

"Burn it, bury it, shove it in your ass! I don't give a shit about what you do with it!"

Morinaga shut his mouth at the heated statement and picked up the ribbon. Wrapping it around his fingers, he smirked wickedly. Well, Senpai did say that he didn't care what he did with it...

* * *

><p>"Kanako, that hurts! Quit yanking it!"<p>

"But that's the only way I can get it out, Big Brother, so please stop complaining!"

"Just _cut _it out!"

"I would but Auntie Matsuda misplaced the scissors."

"I'm so sorry, Sou-kun!"

"It's not your fault, Auntie Matsuda. It's Big Brother's fault for using a rubber band to tie up his hair despite what happened last time. Nii-san, why did you let your hair down anyway?"

"None of your business, Kanako! It's that damn Morinaga's fault anyway! If he hadn't been late then I wouldn't have gotten so upset!"

"Don't you blame Morinaga-san for your problems, Big Brother! There it's out."

"About time."

"Is that how you thank your wonderful helpful little sister for bailing your big head out?"

"Looks like it."

"Nii-san!"

"Fine. Thank you very much for what you did, Kanako."

"Sou-kun, why didn't you just use this?"

"Oh, it's so pretty! Red is my favorite color! Where did you get it, Auntie Matsuda?"

"It fell out of Sou-kun's lab coat."

"Big Brother will look so cute! Can I tie it in your hair, Nii-san? I don't care what you say. I'm doing it anyway. Auntie Matsuda, come help me!"

"Kanako, get away from me!"

"It came from _your _lab coat, Big Brother! So be a man and let me tie a big pretty bow in your hair!"

"MORINAGA!"

"I told you to quit blaming Morinaga-san for your problems, Nii-san! Now let me make you pretty!"


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer**: Koisuru Boukun and all of the characters contained therein are the sole property of Takanaga Hinako. I own nothing. I profit nothing. I am nothing.  
><strong>Title<strong>: And So It Is  
><strong>Author<strong>: AngelIsOnCrack  
><strong>Rating<strong>: Moderate  
><strong>Synopsis<strong>: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute wonder but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.  
><strong>Chapter Note<strong>: I have no idea what the names are of those kids that were interrogating Senpai with Yamaguchi when Morinaga went AWOL in the Koisuru Boukun OVA 2. If they have proper names then I do apologize to them but what's in a name? That which we call a rose...well, you all know what I mean.

Chapter Two

"But I never see you, Angel-kun! You're always so busy with that senpai of yours. You don't come around anymore."

"I'm sorry, Hiroto-kun," Morinaga apologized to his defeated friend as he adjusted his hold on his cell phone. "But Senpai really needs my help right now. He's about to have his experiment reviewed and we need the reports to go perfectly."

Hiroto sighed into Morinaga's ear causing the dark-haired man to frown. "You university kids. Always too busy doing homework to see poor lonely Hiroto."

Morinaga immediately chuckled at Hiroto's response. "I know _you_ are far from lonely, Hiroto-kun. What about that blonde German guy that you hooked up with last week?"

"Christian? Oh, he was only in town for a little while. He left a few days ago. He was really fun, Angel-kun. I love Germans. They're so rigid and stiff but once you get them to loosen up...ahhh..."

"Okay, I got it, I got it," Morinaga interrupted his friend's admiration for European men. "Once Senpai's review is complete then I'll stop by. I promise."

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Angel-kun," Hiroto replied sternly. "Now I'll see you later."

"I promise," Morinaga reassured once more before ending the call.

He really did feel bad about not visiting the auburn-haired man more often. Hiroto had proven to be a great listener and confidant to him time and time again. Morinaga knew that anybody else would burst into madness if they were forced to listen to him wail about his Senpai-related woes as much as Hiroto did but the man never complained. Much. Morinaga assumed it was a bartender trait to be genuinely interested (or at least to be good at pretending to be genuinely interested) in the problems of others. Well, that and the fact that Hiroto was just that kind of person.

Morinaga put his phone away and was surprised to see a couple of his classmates clustered around the door to the lab. Spotting Yamaguchi, he tapped the man on his shoulder and saw relief written in his eyes at the sight of Morinaga.

"Oh, good. You're here."

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Morinaga questioned with a tiny tremor in his chest. Had something happened to Senpai?

The students shared a nervous look amongst themselves before Yamaguchi answered carefully. "The E.P. balance in our lab broke this morning and we wanted to ask Tatsumi-senpai if we could borrow the one in this lab but...well, he's not in a very good mood right now."

"That's putting it mildly, Yamaguchi-kun," Tanaka Shozou, a fellow student in a few of Morinaga's classes added in. "Hamada-kun was bleeding when he came out."

Morinaga's eyes widened in shock. He knew Senpai could be vicious at times but to cause another student to bleed? Something _must_ be wrong. This wasn't typical run-of-the-mill bad day behavior for his senpai.

"I'm dead serious, Kimiko," a voice spoke up heatedly from behind Yamaguchi and Tanaka. "I'm not gonna take this kind of shit lying down."

"Hamada-kun, please don't," a soft voice pleaded. "It'll cause more trouble. The last thing you need right now is to be kicked out of the school."

"I don't care! That pretty boy is a dead man!"

Yamaguchi and Tanaka were pushed aside as a boy with tousled brown hair and murder in his step came through. Following him was Suga Kimiko, a petite soft-spoken girl that Morinaga had partnered with in a few lab experiments before.

"Don't!" Kimiko begged once more as she tugged at the livid man's sleeve. "Yama-kun, stop him!"

"Oi!" Hamada said to Morinaga who had stepped in front of the door to the lab. "Move. Who is this guy?"

"Morinaga Tetsuhiro," Yamaguchi replied. "He's Tatsumi-senpai's lab assistant and a friend of ours so please don't yell at him like that, Hama-kun."

Morinaga stood up taller as the man sized him up with gleaming brown eyes. The Three Holy Mountains could decide to erupt simultaneously at that moment and blanket Japan in thick smoke and ash and he would not allow this guy into the lab. There was no way he would allow Senpai to get hurt if he could help it. If he had to suffer some physical pain because of that then so be it. Anything to keep his love safe and happy. Well, safe at least.

A tense moment slithered past before the young man in front of him spoke. "Look, Morinaga-san, the last thing I want or need right now is to get into another fistfight with some shit but he hit me. I can't just turn tail on that. On the streets, that's called being a punk and I ain't no punk. So just let me pass so I can deal with this."

"I'm sorry, Hamada-san, but I can't let you do that."

"This has nothing to do with you!"

"Yes, it does."

"How the hell so?"

Kimiko gently placed a hand on the shoulder of the worked-up man. "Tatsumi-senpai is a friend of his, Hama-kun. He has a right to defend him."

Hamada clenched his fists and looked like he was about to start swinging but closed his eyes instead and exhaled slowly. He placed a hand on a huge red welt on the side of his face and met Morinaga's apologetic gaze. "Fine. I swore not to get into shit like this again so fine. But you tell that..._friend_ of yours that he can't go around doing shit like that or he's gonna get his ass handed to him by some guy less forgiving than me."

Morinaga bowed deeply in apology to the other man. "I'm very sorry, Hamada-san. I'll tell him. I promise."

Hamada nodded and turned to Kimiko. "Kimiko, I'm hurt and you haven't even kissed me better. Cruelty, I tell you. Cruelty."

Kimiko giggled and turned away shyly. "I'm not your mother, Hama-kun."

"You're right about that because if you were, I could get arrested over the things that I'm thinking about you right now."

"Hamada-kun!"

The brown-haired man laughed at Kimiko's redddened face. "Come on, let's jet. I got a class in thirty and I can't be late again or Yamazaki-sensei is gonna grill my ass. See you guys later."

Kimiko turned twinkling grey eyes onto Morinaga. "We'll see you later, Morinaga-kun?"

"Of course," Morinaga answered warmly.

Kimiko beamed and quickly followed Hamada after throwing a goodbye to Yamaguchi and Tanaka.

"I'm telling you, Yama-kun, Kimiko is giving Hamada-kun a run for his money especially with Morinaga around."

Morinaga met Tanaka's thoughtful expression with a startled one of his own. "What do you mean, Tanaka?"

"It's pretty obvious that Hama-kun is in love with Kimiko but with the way she stares at you when you're around...I don't know. You noticed it, right, Yama-kun?"

Yamaguchi's reply was cut off by a sudden bang heard from within the lab followed by loud shouting that Morinaga could only identify as coming from his senpai.

"We'll be going now," Yamaguchi said as he and Tanaka started to back away from Morinaga and the lab door. "See you later, Morinaga."

"What about the balance?" Morinaga answered hurriedly in an effort to keep the two men by his side. While being alone with Senpai was something he usually looked forward to, he couldn't help but feel like a lamb heading for the slaughterhouse.

"You can just drop it off when you can!" Yamaguchi answered from halfway down the corridor. "Thank you, Morinaga!"

"Good luck!" Tanaka added as the two men swiftly retreated from view.

"You guys! Oi!" Morinaga called out but got nothing in return.

With a nervous sigh, he faced the door. He could do this. He _had_ done this done before. It was just Senpai. His short-tempered, hot-headed, and tyranically violent senpai who had just punched a stranger in the face.

"I'm so dead," Morinaga mutttered as he slid the door open and entered. He immediately ducked in the case that a bottle would come hurtling towards his head as had happened in the past but no flying projectiles came. Tentatively, Morinaga called out for Senpai.

Morinaga scanned the room and came up with nothing. He double-checked and the result was the same. This was impossible. He had heard Senpai shouting a moment ago from the hall and there was only one door in and out. Senpai had to be _somewhere_ in the lab.

Then Morinaga heard it. His olive-colored eyes widened in shock and he knew that this must be a dream of some sort because Senpai never...couldn't be...crying? Morinaga listened harder and he knew he wasn't mistaken. The soft sniffles and stifled whimpering...but it just couldn't be. Senpai never cried. At least, not around him.

"S-Senpai?" he called out softly as he tried to pinpoint the light-haired man's location. "Are you okay?"

He maneuvered around the lab and came to a stop. Senpai was slumped on the floor with his back against the cabinets and he was, without a doubt, crying. Morinaga felt his own eyes begin to well up when he realized that not only was the other man crying but he was sobbing.

He just couldn't take it. To hear such heart-wrenching noises coming from his steely senpai was wrong. It didn't fit together at all. He didn't know what happened but he did know that he needed to make this right again. He had promised to keep his love safe and not only physically but emotionally as well.

Morinaga knelt next to the distraught man and tenderly placed a hand on his shaking shoulder. "Senpai, what happened?"

Souichi's head snapped up at Morinaga's voice and he turned startled reddened eyes to his kouhai. "M-Morinaga?"

Morinaga nodded and watched silently as the man quickly wiped at his watery eyes with a sleeve in an effort to mask what he had been doing. The younger man noted that his senpai's hair had been let down again as the long fingers of Souichi's hands shook when they attempted to smooth the locks down.

"Y-you're fucking late again, you idiot," Souichi berated in a voice entirely too shaky for the words it said.

"I was here on time, Senpai, but I got caught up with an issue outside."

"What issue?"

Morinaga glanced over the man's disheveled appearance and decided that his tale of heroics could wait. There was something much more important to address at the moment. "Nothing. Senpai, will you tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened, Morinaga."

"Then why were you crying just now?"

"I wasn't crying, moron! It's the dust in this filthy room! Would it kill you to clean up every now and again?"

"Senpai, don't lie. Please tell me what's wrong. I nee-I want to help."

"I don't need your fucking help so just back the hell off!"

Morinaga hit the floor as Senpai angrily shoved him and rose to his feet. He winced at the sound of the door being closed with a resonating crash and then it was silent. He shook his head and picked himself up off the floor.

That did not go over well at all but this _was_ Senpai he was dealing with. He didn't honestly expect the man to throw himself into his arms and spill out all his secrets to him. Getting shoved to the floor was a mild response considering what Senpai had done to him in the past.

Morinaga was about to leave the lab and go after his runaway senpai when he was stopped by the ringing of his cell. Pulling it out from his coat, he took the call. "Morinaga."

"Morinaga-san," a quiet voice spoke through. "It's Tomoe."

"Tomoe-kun? Ah...hello. We haven't spoken in a while. How are you?"

"I'm doing good, Morinaga-san, thank you. How are you?"

"Pretty good, I guess. How are things with Kurokawa-san?"

"It's going really well. I got a job transfer to America and Kurokawa-san will be coming with me. I'm really excited."

"America? Tomoe-kun, that's great! Congratulations! Kurokawa-san is a good guy. There's no one out there more suited to go with you...than...him..."

Morinaga trailed off as realization struck him at what Tomoe had said. The younger man was leaving for America. With his boyfriend. Leaving behind his older brother. Who was fiercely overprotective of him. And hated said boyfriend. That's why Senpai had been crying. It had to be. There was nothing the other man cared for more than his family and to have his little brother alone in a new country with a man that Senpai believed to be under-handed and manipulative would be...it would be horrible.

"Morinaga-san, is my brother around?" Tomoe whispered in a voice tinged with tears.

"He left not too long ago. I was about to go after him."

"W-was he upset when he left?"

Morinaga considered lying to Tomoe and telling him that his brother was fine and dandy to make him feel better but he knew that wouldn't help matters any. And lying to someone as kind as Tomoe would make Morinaga feel like the worst type of person there was. "Yeah, he was. Tomoe-kun, your brother was crying when I came in."

"Nii-san," Tomoe breathed out before breaking out into audible sobs.

Morinaga wished he were with his senpai's little brother to help comfort him in some way. He wasn't too sure how he could go about doing that but hearing such miserable sounds coming through his phone pulled at his heart. Morinaga was about to speak when he heard the low rumblings of another voice speaking to Tomoe. A moment later, Kurokawa came on.

"Hello, Morinaga-san."

"Hello, Kurokawa-san. Is Tomoe-kun okay? I didn't mean to upset him."

"No, it's not you. It's this whole...issue with his brother. It hasn't been going well, you know? Tatsumi-san is dead set against us going."

"I know what his brother feels is very important to Tomoe-kun."

"I don't know what to do, Morinaga-san. He just won't accept us. He won't accept _me_. Nothing I do can convince him that I'm not some evil demon hell-bent on taking advantage of his little brother. How do you showcase the love in your heart to someone who is blinded by irrational hatred?"

Morinaga could practically hear his senpai proclaiming his hatred for homos as he listened to Kurokawa's desperate questioning. "I don't know, Kurokawa-san. Although I sure wish I did."

"It's just...hard. Oh, one moment. Tatsumi-kun wants to talk to you."

"I'm sorry, Morinaga-san," Tomoe's voice came on. "I didn't mean to break down on you like that."

"It's okay, Tomoe-kun. Don't apologize."

"Was he really crying?"

"Yeah. I couldn't believe it. Your brother is so...-"

"Strong-minded. I know. He takes after our mother."

"Your mother? Not your father?"

Tomoe let out a light chuckle. "Our father? No, far from it. They're almost complete opposites. Our father is more...how do I explain it..._not_ Nii-san. Our mother was the parent with the iron fist. The things Nii-san says are straight from her mouth sometimes."

"Even about you moving with Kurokawa-san?"

"No...she-she would have been okay with it. She would always tell us that the only thing that came before pride was love. Whether it's family or the love of your life, do anything and everything for them with no thoughts to how it makes you look to everyone else."

"So why does Senpai hate homos so much?"

"I honestly don't know. I've tried to get him to explain it to me but, with him, it's all stone walls and brick doors. He doesn't let anyone in. Our mother would be hurt by the way he's behaving right now."

"I wish that I had met her," Morinaga replied before he realized what he had just said. "Oh! I mean-I'm sorry, Tomoe-kun! I didn't mean to-."

"It's okay, Morinaga-san. I wish she had met a lot of people, too. Especially Kurokawa-san. She would have liked the both of you. I know she would have."

Morinaga's reply was cut off at the sound of the lab door being opened and shut. He turned to see Senpai enter looking reasonably pulled together with his face dry and his hair pulled back.

"Oi. I come back and find you yakking away on the phone like there isn't any work to be done. What the hell is wrong with you, Morinaga?"

"Uh-S-Senpai, I was just...I was-."

The other man rolled his eyes at Morinaga's stammering and strode forward. With a swift swipe, he snatched Morinaga's phone out of his hands and ignored the dark-haired man's cry of protest at his actions.

"Listen, whoever the hell you are," Souichi snarled into the device. "I have a very important review next week and I would really appreciate it if you didn't distract my idiot assistant with whatever useless problems you may be having right now, okay?" Souichi's grimace slowly faded as his light eyes widened in surprise. "Tomoe?"

"Senpai, may I have my phone back please?" Morinaga asked but was promptly ignored as Souichi pushed past him and began to whirlwind around the lab while shouting about winged devils and their love for American food.

Morinaga sighed in defeat and sank onto a stool. Placing his head on his hand, he stared off vacantly as his thoughts tumbled around him. He recalled what Kurokawa has asked him over the phone about showcasing love in the face of hatred. How could Morinaga possibly offer an answer when he himself was drowning in a similar situation?

He _knew_ that Senpai hated homosexuals. He knew this but a flame of hope had been ignited within him when Tomoe had come out with Kurokawa. Senpai despised their relationship and made life a living hell for poor Kurokawa but he didn't refuse them in the way that Morinaga's family had basically disowned him when his relationship with Masaki had been found out. Despite what Kurokawa thought, Morinaga believed that Senpai had already accepted Tomoe being gay and Kurokawa abeing his lover. It was the acceptance in itself that Senpai was having difficulty dealing with. For a person who supposedly possessed strong beliefs and morals against homosexuality to accept such a situation at face value would confuse anyone. Senpai couldn't understand why he had accepted his own little brother being gay and Morinaga knew that must scare the other man severely. What could be the only coping mechanism for such fear for a person like Senpai but to lash out at those around him?

Morinaga clung tightly to the notion that if the older man could accept Tomoe being gay then he could accept the fact that his lab assistant had been in love with him for the past four years with no sign of falling out anytime soon. Maybe if Senpai saw how sincere and deep his love for him was then he would give Morinaga the one chance he needed to prove that no one could treat the long-haired man better than him. No one.

"Here," Souichi broke into Morinaga's thoughts as he handed his phone back to him.

Morinaga pocketed the device and studied the other man carefully for any visible clues that could help him understand what he was feeling. When all he saw was Senpai walking away to measure out liquids he decided that the only way to approach this was the suicidally direct way.

He stood up and strode over to stand next to his senpai who was bent over with light brown eyes glued to the liquid measurements. "Senpai, he really is a good guy, you know. You just need to give him a chance."

"I don't know what you're going on about, Morinaga, so just shut up."

"No, you need to realize that Tomoe is old enough to make his own decisions and to be with who he wants to be with. He loves Kurokawa-san for a reason and if he wants to move to America with him then you should be supportive of that."

"I don't recall asking for your opinion. None of this is any of your business so stay the fuck out of it."

"No! No matter what you consider me, Senpai, I consider you a friend and the same goes for Tomoe-kun and Kurokawa-san. I won't just stand by and do nothing when I hear the both of you crying on the same day!"

"I wasn't crying!"

"Oh, give it up, Senpai! I'm not stupid and neither are you so quit behaving like an idiot! Tomoe-kun needs your support. Do you really want him to leave on such a bad note with you?"

"He's not leaving!" Souichi screeched and threw down a flask on the table where it shattered causing liquid to spread over the surface.

"S-Senpai, what-?" Morinaga halted when he met Senpai's enraged eyes before the other man gazed down at the mess of glass and fluid.

"Damn it, Morinaga," Souichi muttered as he grabbed a nearby cloth and began to soak up the spill.

Morinaga hesitated in thought before deciding on his words. He had seen something in Senpai's eyes in that moment of fury. It was due to years of looking at his own self in the mirror countless times that he was able to identify it underneath the anger. Senpai was afraid.

"Senpai, this isn't about Kurokawa-san, is it?" Morinaga said to which the other man replied nothing. "Answer me please."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

Souichi ignored Morinaga's statement and continued to pound at the cloth causing Morinaga to both sigh in annoyance and wince in fear that shards of glass would cut through his senpai's unprotected skin.

"Senpai? Senpai, will you answer me?"

Morinaga reached out and snatched the rag from Senpai's hands disregarding the tiny pricks of glass on his palm and tossed it to the side. He grabbed a hold of the smaller man's shoulders and turned him to face himself.

"What is this really about, Senpai, because I know that you don't hate Kurokawa-san this much. You couldn't possibly. He hasn't given you any real reason to."

"Let me go, Morinaga."

"No. What are you afraid of?"

"Let me _go_, Morinaga."

"No. What are you afraid of?"

"Let me go."

"No."

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"I can't do it okay!" Souichi smacked Morinaga's grip off of him and clamped a trembling hand over his own eyes. "You fucking moron, I can't do it! I don't know the first thing about raising a girl and I don't know how the fuck to keep a house clean or how to feed her right and the old man is never around to help out. He-he's always chasing after damn bugs like they're more important than his own fucking kids. I don't know how to be a father! A-and that kid...that kid won't listen! He wants to just leave with that moron and what am I supposed to do when he's gone? He can't just go and leave m...I can't...I can't..."

Morinaga was struck utterly speechless. He had no idea what to say in a situation that involved an insecure and terrified Senpai. Didn't his love realize that he had been raising Kanako lately and that she was growing up to be a wonderful person? That she was already so smart and content? And couldn't he see how much his family loved him not as a replacement father but as an older brother?

"Senpai," Morinaga called out as he took the man's shaking hand and pulled it slowly from his face. Souichi instantly turned his head and hid behind the long fringe of his hair. Morinaga tried to locate his eyes but Senpai seemed intent on avoiding him and sticking to the floor instead. "Senpai, look at me, please."

Morinaga marveled at the man's stubborn behavior when he continued to refuse and lightly grabbed his chin. He turned Senpai's face towards his and felt his heart shudder when he saw the tears falling out of those beautiful eyes that he loved so much. He had thought hearing Senpai crying took a toll on his heart but to see it up close and right in front of him nearly threatened to stop his heart altogether. It was safe to say that watching the tears stream out of his love without so much as a whimper or sniff was more breaking for him than having Senpai scream or cry out. It was bordering on a defeatist attitude and that was nothing like his senpai at all.

"Senpai, you're wrong."

"What?"

"You're wrong about everything. You _do_ know how to raise a healthy and happy girl and your father does _not_ love bugs more than his own children whatever that could possibly mean because how could he? You and Kanako-chan and Tomoe-kun are some of the most amazing and wonderful people that I have ever had the great fortune of meeting. You aren't their father and they know that. They love you for you, Senpai."

"But how could he leave and-."

"Senpai, Tomoe-kun isn't leaving you. He trusts you completely. He knows that his little sister will be loved and taken care of and the same goes for you as well. Kanako-chan is a great girl and she'll be looking out for you just as much as you will be looking out for her. You don't think Tomoe-kun is worried about the two of you? But he knows that you'll be fine and that's why he feels that it's okay for him to go. This is a great opportunity for him and you know that."

"I know. But that Kurokawa doesn't have to go with him."

"Senpai, you know as well as I do that he does. Your brother loves him and he loves Tomoe-kun as well. They'll take care of each other."

"But he-."

"No. Tomoe-kun trusts you enough to move to America. Will you trust him enough to let him go?"

Souichi's gaze bore through Morinaga but the dark-haired man had the feeling that the brown eyes weren't seeing him. A few minutes passed by filled with amicable contemplation before his senpai slowly nodded as much to himself as to the younger man.

"You know, Senpai, I'm sorry to say that the only thing that you may be right about is that you don't know how to keep a house clean because you don't clean up broken glass with bare skin and a microfiber cloth."

Souichi let out a snort of laughter and smacked Morinaga lightly on the arm. "Idiot."

Morinaga grinned in return before the expression fell away and was replaced by determination. He stepped up to the proverbial cliff and took a deep breath. "Senpai, you're also wrong about another thing."

"What?"

"You aren't going to be doing this alone because I'm here and I have no intentions of ever leaving you."

"Morinaga, what-."

"Senpai, I love you."

And, with those four words, Morinaga jumped.


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer**: Koisuru Boukun and all of the characters contained therein are the sole property of Takanaga Hinako. I own nothing. I profit nothing. I am nothing.  
><strong>Title<strong>: And So It Is  
><strong>Author<strong>: AngelIsOnCrack  
><strong>Rating<strong>: Moderate  
><strong>Synopsis<strong>: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute wonder but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.  
><strong>Chapter Note<strong>: I must confess that I actually haven't read the 'Challengers' series. Well, I _have_ read the parts that dealt with Senpai and Morinaga but I have to apologize to Tomoe and Kurokawa for completely disregarding the journey of their relationship. In regards to 'And So It Is,' I'm not too sure if the death of Tomoe and Senpai's mother was covered in 'Challengers' or not, so if it was, then my adaptation will be different. I don't know the name of Senpai's mother or the manner in which she passed so if it is too far from anything that has been canonically stated, I give my humble apologies.

Chapter Three

_The man that stepped out into the quiet hallway from the bedroom within resembled little of the Tatsumi Souji that most people knew. Blatant signs of fatigue and sorrow were evident from the dark circles under his dulled eyes and the tangled greasy condition of his unkempt hair. But what had really changed in the usually exuberant man's demeanor was the aura that clung around him. One could simply feel the sadness and lingering grief that shrouded his slumped form._

_"She's doing well today," Souji addressed the three sets of amber eyes that so closely resembled his own. "Well, better than yesterday."_

_A moment of stricken silence covered the man and his three children as memories of the anguished sobs from the previous night ran rampant through their minds. It has been torturous for them all to hear the pain and tears and to be powerless to stop any of it._

_"That's good," the soft voice of the middle child, Tomoe, spoke up. "That means she's getting better. Right, Kanako? Mama is getting better, did you hear?"_

_Large bright eyes turned to Souji brimming with hope and innocence. "Mama is getting better, Papa?"_

_Souji felt a pang in his chest at the sight of his beautiful daughter gazing at him with such bare adoration and trust. He wanted to tell her so much that her mother would be okay. That they could go to the park the next day and have ice cream and fly kites just like they used to. Just like before when her mother would wake up not with a grimace but with that sun-rising smile that Souji had been blessed to wake up to for the majority of his life. Just like before when her mother would dance and play and wouldn't have to worry about doctor's appointments and medical tests. He wished that he could...but, he couldn't. Not after the final diagnosis. His wonderful little girl wasn't going to get her mother back._

_Luckily, Tomoe saved him from the impossible task of breaking his girl's heart and gently took Kanako into his arms and held her. Souji smiled for what felt like the first time in days at the actions of his boy. Tomoe possessed a strength within him that many eyes failed to discover. Out of his three children, Souji knew that Tomoe would be the pillar that would be needed when...she left._

_Souji turned his gaze from his two youngest children to his oldest. Souichi was a few feet away with his tall figure resting against the wall of the hallway. Arms crossed and light brown eyes focused down, the young man was a portrait of silent discontent. Souji frowned at the image. She was so worried about their hard-headed son and so was he. There was no disagreement between Souji and his wife on the fact that their oldest child would take it the hardest. That's just how Souichi was. He didn't do anything by halves or quarters. When he felt something, he felt it with every fiber of his being._

_Of course, on the outside, Souichi would appear to be fine but his parents knew better. The young man would bury his hurt and loss within himself and that just wasn't what either of them wanted their oldest son to do. They wanted him to love and be loved. To use the indescribable way that he had of feeling too much and let it out. They just wanted him to be happy. They wanted all of their children to be happy despite the grim fact that soon, too soon, they would lose their mother._

_"Kids," Souji called out in a firm voice that belied the torrent of emotions that he was feeling within, "Your mother wants to see you."_

_Tomoe nodded and took Kanako's smaller hand in his own. The young boy quickly ran his free hand over his hair and straightened his glasses. Turning to the little girl next to him, he touched her cheek lightly. "Remember to smile, Kanako, okay? Tears are alright but just remember to smile."_

_Kanako gripped her brother's hand in response. With twin looks in the eyes of those that seemed in a way too wise for their years, the two entered the bedroom. Souji closed his own heavy eyelids for a brief second before opening them and reaching out to catch the sleeve of his oldest son._

_"Just them, Souichi."_

_Bewildered question alighted on the young man's face at Souji's words. "What? Why?"_

_"Your mother wants to speak with them and she...she wants me to speak with you."_

_"About what, old man?"_

_Souji released his hold on his son's arm and ran a trembling hand through his limp hair. "Son...Son, will you be okay?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Souichi, will you be okay when-." Souji's breath hitched and the words he spoke stuck hold in his throat. He couldn't say it. To release those tainted words into the air was much too hard._

_"When she dies?" Souichi asked softly. Souji felt the accursed words lodged in his throat erupt into flames and burn him from within. With movements as jagged as the broken edges of sharpened glass, he nodded in response._

_"So...so, it's not true then? She isn't getting better? You lied to Kanako?"_

_"Souichi! I never lied to anyone. You know I would never lie to you kids. Especially about this!"_

_"No...I suppose not," Souichi murmured in a tone that Souji, his own father, had to admit he had never heard coming from the young man before. _

_"Son, we're worried about you. Your mother needs to know that you'll be okay."_

_"You mean once she's gone and I have to take on the responsibility of watching over Tomoe and Kanako?"_

_Souji felt the blow of Souichi's words as if they had been a physical strike. "Son? Where is this coming from? Why would you even begin to say things like that?"_

_"Well, look at the facts, Otoosan! You've been away for days on that expedition and once Okaasan is dead, you'll be gone again! Does it really take the death of your wife to get you to come home?"_

_The horrific echo of Souji's palm against Souichi's cheek resonated through the lull of the hall like the gunfire of a pistol. As if the moment were coated in thick molasses, Souji watched as his son's head snapped to the side and his tall frame staggered back a few steps. "Son! Oh God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"_

_"You never mean to do anything, Otoosan," Souichi said softly with a turn of his head to face his father's frightened expression. "That's the shit beneath everything."_

_The hush from moments before settled over the two men once more. Souji floundered for the right thing to say and the right thing to do in light of his son's unbelievable words. How could Souichi imply that his career was more important to him than his own family? There was absolutely nothing that came before his love for them. Souichi should know that! More than just a little frazzled, Souji cleared his throat. "Souichi...you know that I love you, son. You and your brother and sister, you three are the lights of my life. You are my greatest joy and I feel happy at just the thought of you."_

_Souichi seemed carved of stone as he simply stared at the older man in stilled response. Brief moments flashed past before the young man sighed in resignation. "I know, Otoosan. And I'm sorry for saying that. I'm just...angry."_

_"About what, son?"_

_"About Mama! Kanako is still so young and she'll be losing her mother. She won't know the way Okaasan likes to have her toast with jam but no butter in the mornings. And she won't know that Okaasan likes her cocoa made with water instead of milk but refuses to call it hot chocolate."_

_"Souichi..."_

_"She'll forget, Otoosan! She won't remember what Okaasan's voice sounds like. The way it tilts when it gets softer and how it doesn't shake at all when she's angry. She'll forget her own mother and it upsets me so much because we can't forget her! We just can't!"_

_The waves of Souichi's words rushed over Souij much like the foam of a mighty ocean current. With a stride full of purpose, he rushed forward and enveloped his son's lithe frame into his embrace. He felt Souichi stiffen for a moment before gripping Souji tightly as well._

_"Son, there is no way that will ever happen. For Kanako. For anyone of us. We will never forget your mother, do you hear me? Never."_

_"It's just not right, Otoosan," Souichi shuddered out into his father's shoulder. "We haven't done anything wrong."_

_"I know. It just happens this way. But, son...please don't run."_

_"Of course I won't. Who says I'm ever going anywhere?"_

_Souji chose not to correct Souichi on the misinterpretation of his words and continued to hold him. He knew that his son was brilliant and strong-willed. But he also knew that Souichi didn't understand the concern that his parents felt for him. Holding the young man in his arms, Souji's sorrowful gaze bore into the empty air beyond them as he prayed that his boy would be okay. For him. And for her._

* * *

><p><em>"Mama?" the clear voice rang through the tranquil air of the bedroom.<em>

_"Is that my little baby?" the withered and scratchy voice of Tatsumi Sachiko answered the call of the girl. "Come here, my love."_

_Kanako ran the short distance to her mother's slight form on the bed and threw herself into Sachiko's waiting arms. Sachiko cradled her daughter and inhaled her scent deeply. Sunlight...freshly-picked flowers...oh, how she was going to miss her little ray so much._

_Sachiko looked up and saw the anxious expression on her middle child's face. Gently rearranging Kanako on her lap, she beckoned Tomoe to her. "You too, Tomo-bear."_

_Kanako giggled at the childish nickname and made room for her brother on the bed. Tomoe came forward hesitantly before throwing himself onto Sachiko's lap in the same fashion as his sister had. Sachiko smiled and placed a kiss on her boy's head. She fought the welling urge to sob as the realization that she would never see her beautiful son grow to be the successful adult she knew he was going to be hit her chest._

_Stifling the crushing feeling that threatened to overcome her, Sachiko contented herself with holding her children and listening to their deep breaths. Sitting beneath their warm bodies and with arms full of their energy, Sachiko dreamed. She saw Kanako's glittering eyes and heard her gorgeous laughter that rang clear and light like the melted water of an icicle. She saw Tomoe at the dining table bent over an open notebook with pen in hand and a determined expression on his face with the tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips in that way that Sachiko couldn't help but adore. She saw Souichi and those intense gazes of his as his sharp tongue and demanding views caused her to chuckle in response much to his chagrin. Battling sharpened wits with her oldest child was a past time that she wouldn't trade for anything in the world. She saw her love. Oh, her love. She heard his deep voice excitedly telling her the wingspan of monarch butterflies and the tragic lifecycle of the cicada. Sachiko promised to herself that she would send her darling a perfect moth afterwards to let him know that she was okay. A moth and a kiss._

_Tears suddenyl trickled down her face as different images surfaced within her. Kanako as a woman but no less lovely than the way she was as a child walking hand-in-hand with the perfect man. Tomoe impatiently explaining to his overzealous brother about true love and soul mates as he relayed his own personal experiences. Souichi being held by loving arms and smiling in a way that only his family knew he could. Portraits so marvelous to look upon but those were all they ever would be to her. Just pictures to see but none to touch and be._

_"Mama?" Kanako called with concern written on her young face. "Mama, what's wrong?"_

_"Nothing, sweet," Sachiko answered hurriedly. "I'm just very happy."_

_"Is it because I'm smiling?"_

_Sachiko's tired eyes lit up at her daughter's question. "Yes, dear. I'll always be happy when you're smiling."_

_"Tomoe-niisan told me to," Kanako announced proudly._

_Sachiko chuckled at Tomoe's resulting blush at his little sister's boasting adoration. "He's a good brother, isn't he?"_

_Kanako nodded excitedly in agreement. "The best!"_

_"Don't forget Nii-san, Kanako," Tomoe reminded lightly. "You love him too, right?"_

_"Of course! I love the both of you!'_

_Sachiko let the voices of her children wash over her. These were her favorite sounds to ever grace her ears. They always had been and they always will be. She would listen to them up until the moment that she was called away and only then would she be able to leave with a smile. But a mother would always worry about her children. This was the reason she had called her youngest children to her side. "Loves, I have something that I need you both to do for me."_

_Kanako turned earnest eyes to her mother and settled into her lap. "Anything, Mama!"_

_"What is it, Okaasan?" Tomoe questioned softly._

_"Tomoe...Kanako...I need you to watch over your brother. Do you understand me, darlings?"_

_"What?" Tomoe responded with a furrowed brow. "What do you mean 'watch over him'? I don't understand."_

_"Me too, Mama," Kanako said apologetically._

_"Children, what I need is for the two of you to make sure that your brother is okay. Make sure that he's happy."_

_"Oh!" Kanako exclaimed excitedly. "You mean tell him how to dress and watch what he eats and let him know when to go to bed and stuff?"_

_"Yes, Kanako. Exactly, smart girl."_

_"You mean, be like his Mama?" Kanako continued on with a thoughtful gaze to the ceiling. "Okay! That sounds fun! We'll do it!"_

_"No!" Tomoe burst out suddenly. "It doesn't sound fun at all, Kanako! Mama, you're his mother! Why do we have to watch over Nii-san when you're here to do it?"_

_"Tomo-bear..."_

_Hazel eyes behind glass widened at the despair in Sachiko's tone. "No...Papa said you were better! Did he lie? I know he didn't because you're better! You have to be!"_

_"Tomoe, you're scaring your sister."_

_Tomoe glanced at Kanako's slightly shaking form and dismissed his sister's evident distress. "I don't care, Mama! Why do you have to go? Why can't you just stay?"_

_"Tomoe!" Sachiko reprimanded sternly. "Apologize to your sister."_

_"I'm sorry," Tomoe muttered as he glared at the flowered blanket beneath them._

_"It's okay," Kanako responded softly._

_Sachiko reached forward and clutched Tomoe's body to herself. She felt her heart thump painfully at the sound of her son weeping into her chest and soaking her nightgown with his tears. "My boy...I wish I could. I wish I could so much."_

_Minutes passed by as mother and son embraced each other. The sounds of Tomoe's sobs quieted until the shudders that racked his body came to a standstill. A lull blanketed the bedroom as it's three occupants sat huddled together soaking in the feeling of being near one another._

_"Mama," Kanako broke in with a quiver in her normally joyous tone. "Where are you going?"_

_Sachiko stroked her son's silky brown hair as she answered softly. "Nowhere far, love. Nowhere far."_

_Relief flooded her daughter's expression as the formally somber air was lifted. "Okay, Mama. And don't worry! Kanako-chan will watch over Nii-san. Just leave it to me!"_

_Tomoe let out a strangled sob as he turned glistening eyes to Sachiko. "I don't know how we'll do it, Mama."_

_"Just continue loving each other, Tomo-bear. Love comes first. Every time."_

_"But, Nii-san-."_

_"I know. That's why I need you both to love him extra hard. Okay, Kanako?"_

_"Yes, Mama!"_

_"And when you find someone of your own worth loving, love them just as much. Now, Tomoe, your brother...your brother will need help loving someone else. He will dedicate his entire life to the both of you and he might forget what it's like to care about anyone else. When he finds someone that loves him as much as you and your sister and your father do...promise me that you'll help him learn to love that person back."_

_"I promise," Tomoe murmured. "But, how will we know when someone else loves him?"_

_"You'll know, Tomoe. You might know before your brother does but you'll know."_

_Sachiko shut her eyes and let out a weary sigh. She was always so tired now. Her body didn't understand how much she wanted to stay with her love and her children. She had fought as hard and as long as she could but it was a losing battle. She could feel herself pulling away and she knew, in her broken heart, that she would be leaving soon._

_She slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she was met with the sight of her two marvelous children looking back at her. "Now remember what you promised to me, loves. Look after one another. Not just your brother even though he'll need you the most but each other too."_

_Kanako nodded as she nuzzled her head into Sachiko's body. "Mama, you and Papa will be watching us too, right?"_

_Sachiko buried her face into her children and engraved the moment into her memory. Many would say that such a move was futile and that, once she had left, such feelings and occurrences wouldn't matter anymore. Her life here and now wouldn't matter. Sachiko didn't believe in such notions. No matter where she went when she was called away, Sachiko would remember this moment always._

_"Of course, my love," she whispered to her little girl. "I'll always be watching."_

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

"Senpai, I love you. I always have."

"What do you mean you always have? We've only known each other for a couple of years."

"We've known each other longer than that. And I've loved you just as long. Please believe me."

Morinaga had never felt the mixture of emotions that he was feeling now seated beside the person that meant the most to him. Nervousness, fear, vulnerability...but, above all, utter relief. He had finally told the love of his life how he felt. No more did his heart ache to let the truth be known. He'd done it but he couldn't help but to ask himself at what cost? Was he forced to lose Senpai now?

"I don't believe you would do shit like this, Morinaga."

The dark-haired man was taken aback by the sudden severity of his senpai's tone. "What? Senpai, I'm serious. I love you!"

Souichi's eyes slitted in rage as he hissed at Morinaga's pleas. "Keep your voice down, idiot! Someone might hear you!"

"I don't care! Let the world hear me! I love my senpai, Tatsumi Souichi, with all my heart! I lo-."

Morinaga was cut off when a fist came crashing into his nose. Pain flooded through his face as thick blood came flowing from within. He let loose an undignified yelp as his shaking hands flew up to cradle his throbbing nose. His now tearing eyes held Souichi's livid glare as the enraged man panted harshly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Morinaga? Is this your idea of a joke?"

Morinaga shook his head vigorously causing drops of blood to scatter in the process. "No! Senpai, I'm not joking! Please don't say that because I am seriously in love with you."

Souichi's mouth formed a grim line as he clenched his fists at his sides. Moments passed as the older man sat as still as a statue with eyes riveted to the floor.

"Senpai, please say something."

Souichi shook his head once in response.

"Look, I know that it's a lot to take in but I truly do mean it when I say that I care for you. I won't leave you."

"Shut up," Souichi muttered angrily.

"Senpai, I want to be there for you. I want to be at your side. I love you so-."

"Shut the hell up, you fucking homo!" Souichi hollered as he raised a hand intent on striking at Morinaga's form.

"Go ahead, Senpai," Morinaga said softly at Souichi's halted hit. "You can kick me and strike me but it won't change the way I feel about you. I'll still love you."

"I can't deal with your shit right now, Morinaga. If you want to be a homo, go and do it when I'm not around."

Morinaga watched in stunned paralysis as Souichi stood up and made for the door. Realizing that he was about to be dismissed, he bolted upright causing his stool to clatter to the floor. Rushing to his quickly departing senpai, Morinaga snatched at the other man's arm.

"Please don't leave," he pleaded shamelessly.

"Morinaga, let me go."

"Please!" Morinaga begged as his grip on Souichi tightened.

"Let me go!" Souichi screamed and shoved Morinaga in the chest.

The taller man released his hold as his body staggered back. He winced at the bolt of pain that flashed through his back as he collided with the hard edge of a table. Glancing up quickly, he met Souichi's gaze briefly before the other man spun around and left the room leaving Morinaga alone with his thoughts.

* * *

><p>"Fucking idiot," Souichi growled beneath his breath. "Fucking <em>moron<em>. What the hell is his problem going all homo like that?"

Souichi felt his hands twitch and he wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed. Away from school, away from Morinaga, away from Tomoe and that stupid jerk that followed him around. Why couldn't they just find themselves a bunch of nice girls to screw? What was wrong with them?

He didn't get it and not knowing frustrated him to no end. How could someone like Tomoe be a homo? His brother was smart most of the time and kind and bright so why would he want a guy like that little shit Kurokawa? And now Morinaga had decided to bite the wiener. His kouhai was an annoyance more often than not and always wandered around with that irritatingly dopey expression plastered on his face but he was quick-minded when it came to lab work. Once he focused, that is.

So why the fuck would he pull such a stunt? Saying that he was in love with Souichi? Another man? It was ridiculous. Morinaga couldn't possibly have been telling the truth. The fool must have been joking. That's all it was. A joke. No matter how serious and earnest the other man had seemed...like his entire life was on the line...

Souichi turned the corner of the building corridor with the image of Morinaga's pleading expression fresh on his mind when he collided with something hard. Releasing a cry of pain, he fell backward and landed hard on his rear.

"The fuck?" he exclaimed heatedly as his bottom complained from the mistreatment. "Why don't you watch where you're going, asshole?"

"I was, Tatsumi-kun," a deep voice responded from above him. "But, with the way you flew around that turn, how was I to avoid the collision?"

Now Souichi wasn't one to believe in karma. He believed in making his own destiny and paving his own road through life. However, at the moment, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had been a mass murderer or something in a past life to deserve this hellish day. He looked up and was met with the amused gaze of Professor Miyoshi who was chuckling at his mirth.

"Do you need some help there?" the professor questioned as he held a hand out for support.

"No, I'm fine," Souichi responded as he fought down the urge to slap the offered hand away.

"Oh, come now. Don't be so stubborn." Ignoring Souichi's cry of protest, the older man grabbed a hold of Souichi's waist and hauled him to his feet. With a grin, he patted the long-haired man on the head. "There we are, Tatsumi-kun. Good as ever."

"Thank you, Miyoshi-sensei," Souichi bit out through gritted teeth.

"Now what did I tell you about my address?" the professor chided with a stern shake of an index finger. "Just 'Sensei' is fine. After all, I'm the only teacher that matters to you right now what with your review coming up."

"I forgot. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry what, Tatsumi-kun?"

_I'm sorry for shoving my fist down your throat thereby causing your untimely death by asphyxiation_. "I'm sorry, Sensei."

"Good boy. Now!" the professor proclaimed as he thew an arm around Souichi's shoulders and proceeded to lead them down the hall. "Tell your dear concerned teacher what's wrong."

"There isn't anything wrong. Now if you'll excuse me I have to-."

"Ah, ah, ah, Tatsumi-kun. You forget that I'm an Associate Professor specializing in laboratory work in the field of Agriculture. I know how to observe and there is most certainly something wrong. Here we go."

Souichi paused in step as they came to a stop in front of a classroom. "Miyoshi-sensei, I don't mean to be rude or anything but I don't think it's very appropriate for you to be wondering about my life."

"I'm your teacher, Tatsumi-kun. Isn't it my right to be concerned about one of my favorite students?"

"Yes but-."

"And by refusing my offer of a helpful ear, you _are_ being rude. Very rude."

Souichi swallowed his sentence at the man's reprimand. He couldn't stand the jerk with his overbearing nature and nosy questions but the truth was that the professor played a vital role in obtaining his degree and he would have to suck it up and play nice to get on the professor's good side. Maybe once he got his Master's he could finally sock the guy a good one right in the eye.

"Okay, Miyoshi-sensei, but isn't this room in use?"

"It's the room for my next class and that doesn't start for another hour," the professor responded as he unlocked the door and ushered Souichi in. " Have a seat. Seeing as it's just the two of us, you have quite a bit to choose from."

Souichi rolled his eyes and walked into the empty room. Spotting the teacher's desk at the front of the room, he sauntered over and settled his lean frame into the seat. The professor chuckled at Souichi's choice and pulled a chair over to seat himself next to the younger man.

"All in good time, Tatsumi-kun, all in good time. Now tell me what's on your mind."

"Sir, I have to apologize but I really don't think-."

"It's about your family, correct?"

"W-what?" Souichi faltered at the other man's accurate assumption.

"It is, isn't it?" the professor said smugly. "You see, as a teacher, I've learned many things about my students. About people, in general. One of those things is that everyone is reluctant to speak about issues with their families. Troubles with boyfriends or girlfriends or close friends...you can't get people to shut up sometimes. But with family...when it comes to family, not a word is easily given. Do you know why that is, Tatsumi-kun?"

Souichi shook his head slowly as he found himself oddly riveted to the man's words. It was most likely due to the fact that this was the first time the professor had spoken to him without shit-coated words spewing from his lips.

"It's because family is blood. Family is _you_. With friends or significant others, a person can say that it's simply out of their hands. After all, we have no control over the way a person was raised or the way they behave in certain situations. We had no part in their lives up until the point that we met them, did we not? But family is an entirely different matter. Family reflects on who we are as a whole. The problems we face regarding those related to us that we try so hard to conceal are our own misgivings. Our own failures as it were. They don't say 'the outhouse lies a few steps from the backdoor' for nothing, Tatsumi-kun."

Souichi bit down a scoff at the professor's impromptu psychoanalysis. He didn't care to admit that what the other man had said did hold a certain grain of truth to it. And while he was usually one to give credit where credit was due, in the case of Professor Miyoshi, the guy could take the credit and shove it up his nosy ass.

"So, Tatsumi-kun...what is it?"

Lying seemed like a golden road paved with currency and diamonds but Souichi knew there were severe consequences of lying to a teacher. Should Professor Miyoshi ever find out that Souichi had fed him lies then he could kiss his perfect review goodbye. With a long-suffering sigh, Souichi answered the professor's pestering inquiry. "It's my brother."

"And what happened with him?" the professor prompted when nothing else followed Souichi's statement.

"He wants to move to America and I think the idea is absolute rubbish." _To say the least_, he scowled to himself.

"I see," the professor said with a knowing air about him. "I know where you're coming from, Tatsumi-kun."

"Do you, Miyoshi-sensei?"

A flash of annoyance skittered across the older man's face before it was replaced with a hurried smirk. "Of course, dear boy. I've been around the block a time or two with my own impossible siblings. The solution to your problem is to let him do as he wants."

"Absolutely not! I can't just stand by and watch him ruin his life!"

"Tatsumi-kun, listen to reason. You can't coddle him as it is so evident that you are doing now. He needs to go out there and make his own mistakes. Learn his own lessons. Sure, he may crash and burn but let me tell you something, boy. There is no better feeling in the world than the one you experience when telling someone 'I told you so.'"

Souichi huffed and fell back in his seat with no attempt to conceal the frown on his face. "I'll take your advice into consideration, Miyoshi-sensei. Thank you."

The dark-haired man let out a boisterous chuckle and missed the contemptuous glare Souichi sent hurtling his way. "Sure, you will. No, I can see that you are less than convinced of my knowledge on matters such as these so here's what will happen. You are going to accompany me to a bar tonight and we will have this problem of yours sorted out by the time the night is through."

Souichi paled at the idea of spending an entire night out with the other man. He really didn't think his nerves or his stomach could handle that. "That's really generous of you, sir, but I'm afraid I can't."

The professor's dark eyebrows rose in question. "Oh? Busy again? Do you have plans with that kid? He seems to be taking up a lot of your time, Tatsumi-kun. Something happening there that you want to tell me about?"

"No!" Souichi nearly shouted out immediately and then berated himself mentally. He needed to keep his head clear about that whole stupid thing with Morinaga and jumping on people like a maniac was not the smart way to go about doing that. "No. I'm not doing anything with him."

"Well then, it's settled. I'll meet you at 'Kuru-Kuru' at nine. Don't be late, Tatsumi-kun. I hate waiting."

"Hey!" Souichi stammered out as the professor rose and started to usher him out of his seat. "Just because I don't have plans with Morinaga doesn't mean I don't have plans at all!"

The professor laughed at Souichi's words and gently pushed him and his sputters into the corridor. "Sure, it doesn't, my boy. 'Kuru-Kuru' at nine. You know where that is, right?"

"Yes but-."

"Splendid! See you then. Perhaps we could talk a little about your review, yes?"

Souichi's retort clung to his tongue at the professor's subtle reminder of his current dependency on the man. It was a low blow indeed but effective nonetheless. "I would like that, sir. I'll see you there."

"Marvelous," the professor replied and shut the door on Souichi with a soft click.

The long-haired man stood at the closed door with dread dripping into his gut. He tried to avoid the professor as much as he could because he knew that the more time spent with the man was more time on his nerves and the chance of him losing his already short temper and doing something regrettable shot up dramatically. But he couldn't deny the professor's invites any longer. Honestly, the guy could give Morinaga a run for his money in the endurance department.

Morinaga. Souichi spun around and stalked down the corridor with murderous fury flaming in his eyes. Ignoring the indignant shouts of students as he not so gently brushed past them, he tried to snuff the incident that had occurred before slamming into that brick head professor from his mind. It was all Morinaga's fault. If that idiot hadn't unraveled all that shit on him then he wouldn't have been in the hall and he wouldn't have seen the professor at all that day. And now look at where he was. He was up Shit Creek with no paddle in sight.

Love. Morinaga claiming to be in love. With him. It was so stupid. Maybe going to a bar wasn't such a bad thing despite the less than desirable company he was to be with. Souichi was going to get piss drunk and forget about his brainless kouhai. He was going to forget about everything. That was the ultimate beauty with alcohol.

Souichi found himself at the door to the lab and stopped. He did a quick check of his wristwatch and saw that Morinaga should be in a class at the moment or at least on his way to one. He doubted the other man would be in class though what with the way he left him bleeding in the middle of the lab. A twinge of guilt wrapped around Souichi before he deftly brushed it away. Why should he feel bad about giving that moron what he deserved? Souichi made a move to open the door but let his hand fall to his side instead. Making a decision, he walked away and continued on out of the building.

Many would accuse Souichi of being a coward. Of crawling away with his tail between his legs. Quite frankly, they could shrivel up and die because he didn't care one way or another. He was going to get wasted that night and nothing was going to stop him. Not even the memory of glimmering green eyes that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get out of his head.


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer**: Koisuru Boukun and all of the characters contained therein are the sole property of Takanaga Hinako. I own nothing. I profit nothing. I am nothing.  
><strong>Title<strong>: And So It Is  
><strong>Author<strong>: AngelsOnCrack  
><strong>Rating<strong>: Moderate  
><strong>Synopsis<strong>: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute wonder but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.  
><strong>Chapter Note<strong>: In my personal opinion, both Hiroto and Isogai deserve a spin-off series respectively. While Isogai does not appear in this chapter (and quite possibly in this story but who knows?), Hiroto spent more time on the tip of my pencil than I had previously planned. Takanaga-sensei has a brilliant way of weaving the relationships of side characters into the story of the main characters (we all know that our most beloved MoriPai started off as a side couple in 'Challengers') and so I guess I tried to emulate that in my own humble way in this chapter. I most likely have crashed and burned in the process but please read and enjoy regardless.

Chapter Four

"And so I told her that what she said before was totally different from what she was saying now and do you know what she told me, Nii-san?"

Souichi replied with a noncommital grunt to his sister's livid rant as he gazed dejectedly down at the dinner the young girl had prepared for them. The middle Tatsumi child was once again absent. Tomoe was most likely holed up somewhere with that demon but Souichi couldn't muster up the usual fury he felt when he thought about what Kurokawa could be doing to his little brother. He was too mentally exhausted to feel much of anything at the moment.

"She said and I quote, 'I can change my mind, Kanako-chan.' Can you believe it, Big Brother? She had the nerve to treat _me_ like I was younger when she knows full well that I'm older than her by six months! Nii-san? Nii-san!"

Souichi snapped to attention and focused on Kanako who was in the midst of leveling him with a patented Tatsumi Glare. It would have been intimidating had it not been paired with an adolescent pout. "What, Kanako?"

The young girl threw her hands in the air at her brother's inattentiveness. "Nii-san! You're not even listening to me! You're worse than Papa when a Sparrow Hornet is in the room!"

The man dropped his gaze to his full plate of food and idly pushed the cold pieces around with his chopsticks. "M'sorry."

His listless behavior did not go unnoticed. Kanako frowned at Souichi's lack of an appetite and scooted closer to him. Placing a light hand on his arm, she leaned forward into his lowered field of vision and found his amber eyes beneath the curtain of loosened hair that surrounded his face. "Big Brother, what is it?"

Souichi's eyes skittered from the girl's earnest face back to his untouched meal. "It's nothing, kid."

Kanako heaved a heavy maternal sigh and rose to her knees behind her brother. Gathering handfuls of his long hair, she began to plait the locks into a braid. "It's not nothing, Nii-san. You didn't even eat your food. That's rude, you know. I worked really hard on it! I'm hoping to get it just right so it'll taste like Auntie Matsuda's someday."

Souichi smiled at his sister's reprimand despite the feeling of dripping dread in his gut. He really did want to please her but he just couldn't stomach food at the moment. Not with the knowledge of who he was going to meet in a few hours swirling in his head. "Throw it in the fridge for me?"

Kanako rolled her eyes to the empty air above Souichi's head and grasped the tail end of the braid in his hair with one hand. With the other, she pulled out a hair tie from the pocket of her dress and deftly tied the braid complete. Grinning in satisfaction, she formed the outline of a camera with her fingers and pressed the 'shutter' with a click of her tongue.

Souichi placed his chopsticks down and ran a hand over the braid. Fingering the tie at the end, he turned to fix a look of curiosity at the girl smiling behind him. "Why do you always have ties on you?"

Kanako giggled at Souichi's confusion and gently poked his nose. "Obviously, it's because I have the prettiest big brother around. I need to be ready to doll him up whenever I can."

Souichi scowled and made to turn his head away but was stopped by his sister's hands on the side of his face. He watched in silence as the girl formed her 'camera' and clicked a picture of him. Nodding once in satisfaction, she motioned with her index finger for him to face forward again. Surprisingly, Souichi complied with no resistance.

He felt his sister remove the tie and begin to gently take the braid apart. A brief moment of amicable silence passed between the siblings before Souichi spoke. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" came the clear ring of his sister's voice behind him.

"You know. The camera thing. You do it all the time. I'll get you a real one for your birthday if that's what you're trying to get at."

The movements of Kanako's hands running through Souichi's hair paused for a second before she resumed smoothing out the long locks. "No, I don't want a camera, Nii-san. I want a cellphone. I can start having conversations on an imaginary one if you need a hint."

"Go right ahead, kid. It won't make you look any crazier than you already do." Souichi chuckled at the gasp of indignation and the light swat to his head that he received from the young girl. "So why do you do it then?"

No immediate answer was presented and Souichi began to wonder if perhaps he had really offended his sister when a soft reply came. "It's for Mama."

A flash of surprise alighted through Souichi's eyes at his sister's answer. "For Okaasan?"

"Yeah," Kanako replied as she continued to thread her fingers through Souichi's now loose hair. "Every night, before I go to bed, I gather the pictures together in my head and I send them to her. Don't laugh, okay? I know it's stupid but I can't stop. I feel like if I do...I'll be leaving Mama behind and that would make her sad. It's dumb."

Souichi reached behind himself and grabbed a hold of Kanako's hands. Gently, he tugged her around until she was seated on his lap. Wrapping his long arms around her small frame, the siblings gazed off aimlessly into the quiet room. "Kanako, it's not stupid. I think it's a great idea. Okaasan probably looks forward to receiving them every time you go to sleep. She _does_ get them."

"You really think so, Nii-san?"

Souichi placed his head on his sister's soft brown hair and nodded in response. "I really do, kid."

"I'm glad," Kanako breathed out in tangible relief. "Hey, Big Brother...does Mama ever visit you?"

"What do you mean?"

Kanako rearranged herself on Souichi's lap and leaned into his body with her head placed on his chest. She slid her eyelids shut in content at the sound of her brother's steady heartbeat in her ear. "Sometimes, when I'm dreaming, Mama comes to me and we talk."

"About what?"

Kanako saw the image of her mother laughing with a twinkle in her eyes behind her own closed eyelids as she continued on. "Anything. Everything. Mostly about you and Papa and Tomoe-niisan."

"Nattering like two old office ladies about us, are you?"

Kanako smacked Souichi's arm and stifled a titter that threatened to break through her lips. "Not that we have much to talk about when it comes to you, Niisan. It's just school, school, and more school. You need a girlfriend."

A flash of Morinaga's tearful declaration cracked through Souichi's brain and he grimaced at the memory. "Tell me about it," he mumbled under his breath.

"Big Brother, do you think she misses us?"

Souichi contemplated his answer carefully before responding to his sister's question. "Kanako, when you see her...is she happy?"

The brown-haired girl beneath him nodded immediately. "Every time," the young girl answered firmly.

"Then it doesn't really matter if she misses us, right? As long as she's happy then everything is okay."

"I guess you're right. But...I miss her."

"So do I."

Silence enveloped the still air of the Tatsumi house as brother and sister sat with one another. Seconds ticked and minutes passed as the siblings reflected on what they had lost and could never hope to regain not knowing that their thoughts were one and the same.

"Hey," Souichi said softly as he tapped Kanako on the shoulder lightly. "Smile."

Kanako opened her eyes and looked up to see one of Souichi's hands in the air above them holding her 'camera.' As she leaned closer into Souichi's warm embrace, she heard the flitter of a whisper twirling through the air, _'I'll always be happy when you're smiling.'_ A beautiful beam emerged on the young girl's face as she answered her mother. _'Then I'll never stop, Mama.'_ She gazed straight into the 'camera' and both siblings clicked their tongues in unison when Souichi pressed the 'shutter.'

Souichi lowered his hand and returned his arm to it's former place around his sister. "Do you think she'll like that one, kid?"

"She'll love it, Nii-san."

"Good. Because she's going to get it sent twice to her tonight."

Kanako giggled in delight. Closing her eyes once more, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around Souichi's hair. Twirling the soft strands almost rhythmically, she silently thanked her brother for keeping his hair so long. She didn't know why he did and she never planned on asking him. She just loved it unconditionally. If she ever were to ask, he would probably say it was just hair or something like that. That's just the way her brother was, after all.

* * *

><p>Hiroto was not pleased to say the least. His shift had begun a couple of hours before and AdamSite had been a complete and utter ghost town since then. Granted that at midnight, the night was still relatively young as far as the bar scene was concerned but he already knew that it was going to be a rare dud shift. While they never happened very often, he hated dud shifts and he hated working slow weekdays. There were patrons that came in during the lull of the working week but tonight it was hardly enough to keep him happy. No customers equalled no interaction and no interaction equalled a bored and disgruntled Hiroto.<p>

The brown-haired man snatched a cloth and did the typical bartender thing to do when no orders were in and the night was a drag. He aimlessly wiped down the counter to disguise his apathy. As he swished the cloth back and forth, his thoughts turned to the conversation that he had earlier that day on the phone with Morinaga, his poor lost university friend. Hiroto has been hoping his wayward pal would stop by that night but his invite had been to no avail. The guy was much too wrapped up in that hopeless crush of his.

Hiroto snorted at the juvenile term. Perhaps 'crush' wasn't the right word. Maybe 'insane obsession' or 'borderline stalker crazy' would fit better. Either way, he missed the dark-haired man. Not only was Morinaga a great way to kill the sometimes tedious hours of his shift, he was also a genuinely good guy to be around. Just being near the kid gave the most miserable downer a boost in the right direction. Well, at least when he wasn't moaning and groaning about his Holy Senpai troubles. But Hiroto could do for a pick-me-up that wasn't alcoholic in it's origin at the moment.

"I can't believe Boss has us both working tonight," a deep voice tinged with a slight accent groused at Hiroto's side. "It's so dead right now that I could moonlight as the Grim Reaper."

Hiroto chuckled at his co-worker's complaints. Drake Hunter was a handsome American that the owner of AdamSite had hired a little less than six months before and he had quickly become one of Hiroto's closest friends in that short amount of time. Possessing brilliant blonde hair and bright blue eyes that hardly existed naturally in Japan, Drake was like a beacon for men to the bar. 'A strategic move' was what Hiroto's boss had called it when Drake was hired. Hiroto had found himself enamored with the beautiful foreigner but, much to his dismay, their relationship had remained platonic. Drake was straight after all which was a closely guarded fact by the staff of AdamSite. The bar would lose a large chuck of it's clientele should word get out that the resident blonde bartender was batting for the hets.

None of this phased Hiroto in the least. He was absolutely determined to get the American in his bed one way or the other. He had never met a straight man that he couldn't turn and he was certain that Drake was no exception. While he had to admit that the process was taking a bit longer than he was accustomed to, Hiroto had no doubts about his skills in the 'Art of Reform' as he liked to call it. Heterosexuality was simply a convenience invented for men everywhere to deny what they truly desired and what Drake truly wanted deep within that stunningly sexy body was Hiroto. The young bartender was absolutely sure of this.

"I didn't know you were on shift, D," Hiroto commented as his friend picked up a mug and began to wipe it down harshly. "What happened?"

"I didn't know I was on shift either until an hour ago," Drake replied as he placed the mug with it's mates and grabbed another. "Boss called me in the middle of a _date_ and tells me to get down here. I thought you were swamped, man, so I rushed here only to find this wasteland."

"A date, hmm?" Hiroto said with a contemplative finger tapping on his chin. "How'd he take it?"

Drake rolled his eyes and threw the rag in his hands at Hiroto's head who caught it with a laugh. "_She_ was fine thank God. I really like this girl so as long as she's happy then I'm happy. Even here."

Hiroto attempted to place a supportive smile on his face for his obviously miserable friend but all he could muster was a half-hearted upturning of his lips. He had honestly tried moving on from his desire for the American and he had succeeded. For about a week or so. His resolve had crumbled and he found himself wanting so much more than the friendly pats on the back and unnecessarily manly handshakes that he received. He wanted to taste Drake's tongue within his mouth. He wanted to lay the blonde down on his sheets and hear that low voice shout out in pleasure. To put it simply, Hiroto wanted Drake Hunter.

Was it love? Of course not. Hiroto did not love. Sure, he lusted like the best of them but never loved. That was the key difference between himself and Morinaga. He didn't want to wine and dine his friend and gaze into those bright blue eyes with resolves of eternal affection spilling from their lips in unison. He was just after the guy's firmly toned ass. Nothing more and nothing less. Of course, that didn't make it any less difficult to hear the blonde spout about how he would rather be on a date with some cheap hussy than working with him.

"A tramp I'm sure," Hiroto muttered under his breath as he tossed the rags into a bin with more force than was probably necessary.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Hiroto replied and sauntered over to the other end of the counter to grab some glasses. "You want something, D?"

"You know I don't drink on the job," came the answer from behind him. "And you shouldn't either."

Hiroto snorted in response. "Like it really matters. Breaking headline, D. We work at a bar. It's in the job description to sample the goods we provide to our oh so beloved patrons before getting them sloshed into next Tuesday. Besides, there isn't anyone here."

"There is now. Straight guys by the look of it."

Hiroto gasped in unconcealed excitement and quickly set down the bottles of liquor that he had been contemplating. Executing a quick roundabout that would have made any military officer proud, he marched over to stand beside Drake. "Where?" he demanded.

Drake shook his head at Hiroto's thrumming delight. "They went to the toilets, dude. Will you calm down and chill for a minute? Don't scare away what may be our only customers of the night."

Hiroto pouted and stamped his foot causing the blonde to erupt into cackles. "Shut up, D! I haven't gotten any since Christian. I'm getting desperate!"

Drake stopped laughing almost immediately and fixed Hiroto with an incredulous gaze. "You were with Christian _last week_, Hiroto!"

"My point exactly! I crave attention so sue me. If a certain blonde thick-headed _someone_ would just accept the fact that he is in love with me then I wouldn't have to throw myself at the next guy that comes by!"

Drake continued his rather unsettling regard before letting out a small sigh. "We've already been through this. I'm with Ayumi. You know I can't."

"So if you weren't with this chick then you would?" Hiroto pointed out.

Drake averted his eyes to the side and contemplated his answer. "It's more than that, Hiroto."

Hiroto's response was cut off by the sound of a nasally voice echoing through the bar loudly which was then followed by a hearty chuckle at an even higher volume. Honestly, this was a bar not a baseball stadium. Were these men not given the lesson of indoor and outdoor voices as children? Pushing Drake aside gently, he faced forward to get a look at the newcomers who had settled themselves onto a pair of stools.

And promptly swallowed his gum. Well, he would have if he were chewing gum at the time but he was adamantly against repetitive actions that caused him to look like a two-ton heifer chewing cud in the fields. Shaking his head, he focused his attention to the two men before him. Both men were attractive in their own rights. It was obvious that there was an age difference between them but nothing too creepy. Just a couple of guys hanging out. The older man had slicked-back dark hair that reached to the back of his neck and a handsome scholarly mustache. Dressed in perfectly-pressed black slacks, a pristine white shirt, and a dashing necktie, Hiroto couldn't help his bartender tendencies and compare the man to a delicious bottle of wine because this stranger certainly fit the bill of being refined and better with age. He was perfect sugar-daddy fodder.

But it wasn't the older man that held most of Hiroto's attention. It was the younger man that had given him the shock because Hiroto was almost a hundred percent sure that the man he was looking at was Morinaga's Holy Senpai. Stepping back, he pushed Drake forward causing the blonde to collide with the edge of the counter with an undignified release of breath. Ignoring the daggers his friend hurled his way, he motioned for Drake to take care of the two men. The American shot him a questioning look before complying. Hiroto watched silently as Drake got the order and began making the drinks. His light eyes roved over the man in question earnestly. With Morinaga's love-struck voice echoing in his head, he took in the man's appearance.

_"He has hair that reaches down past his shoulders and, Hiroto-kun, it's the most gorgeous thing that I've ever seen. It's so soft-looking and perfect...and the color is a pale kind of blonde that it could easily pass as white. Oh, Senpai...Senpai..."_

Well, okay. Long hair is a check. Perfectly soft? Hiroto strained his eyes but couldn't tell too much in the dim lighting of the bar. It certainly fell perfectly enough so a check could be awarded in that sense. And, no doubt about it, the man's hair was definitely a pale blonde. He was practically glowing as much as Drake in the darkened room. Check, check, and check.

_"And his body, Hiroto-kun...it's just...perfect. He's almost as tall as I am and he's so slender. His waist is...oh, and his legs...and, Hiroto-kun, his..."_

Hiroto grimaced at the memory. He really should consider buying Morinaga a thesaurus for his birthday or something. The kid was seriously lacking in the adjectives department. Now, as for the man...well, he _did_ seem to have a pretty nice build. Slim but not skinny. Definitely someone Hiroto himself would go after for sure. The question was if the man was the type that Morinaga would fall head-over-heels for.

_"The best part about him is his eyes. They're so expressive. You would think that you wouldn't see much with them hidden behind glass all the time but you do. It's impossible to conceal such emotion. They're light brown but not quite. More like an amber color. Golden even..."_

Hiroto snapped his fingers at the description. Glasses and this man certainly did have a pair on. It seemed like Morinaga's obsession was sitting right in front of him. The man certainly fit well enough but there was one key element that kept Hiroto in doubt. The most important one in his opinion. Why would Morinaga's homophobic senpai be in a gay bar with another man? Hiroto's puzzled thoughts were halted when Drake strode over to him with a frown on his handsome face.

"Yeah thanks for that," the blonde remarked with a huff. "Not only has my stomach met the counter enthusiastically but I had to serve homophobic assholes on top of that."

"And that should bother you why? Last time I checked, which was ten minutes ago, you were Mr. Straight, D."

"That doesn't mean shitty attitudes like that don't bother me! I _do_ work in a gay bar if you haven't noticed and my good friend is a-ow! What the hell was that for?" Drake glared at Hiroto and rubbed at his shoulder which the other man had punched shamelessly.

"I'm sorry but you weren't shutting up," Hiroto explained hurriedly. "What did you just say?"

Drake clucked his tongue at Hiroto's dismissive attitude towards his pain before answering. "I said they're a bunch of homophobic assholes. The whole time I was serving them they kept going on and on about how this homo bar was their last resort and how they got kicked out of all the _good_ bars. Homo this and homo that. It was disgusting."

Hiroto's eyes widened at the information. If what Drake said was true, and why wouldn't it be considering the man had no reason to lie, then Morinaga's beloved Senpai was really with another man in a gay bar. "The both of them?"

"Yeah...well, actually, more so the guy with the long hair. The other guy seemed like he was just agreeing with him to get on his good side or something."

"It has to be him."

"Has to be who? Hiroto? Hello?"

Hiroto ignored Drake's calls and grabbed a hold of the blonde's arm. Stepping up to the counter, he released his confused friend and regarded the men before him. Upon closer inspection, Hiroto could see why Morinaga had noticed the man right off the bat. If this was indeed the right man. Regardless of that, Hiroto knew male beauty when he saw it and he had to admit that the long-haired man with the glasses had it in spades. An undeniably attractive face that was only further enhanced by the long locks framing it coupled with a slender frame and a waist that most women would kill for. It seemed ol' Mori had struck gold with this one.

"So, guys!" Hiroto exclaimed jovially. "How are we this lovely evening?"

Hiroto faltered slightly when no immediate answer was offered. The younger man seemed to be ignoring both Hiroto and his older companion by looking off to the side with complete disdain on his handsome features. The dark-haired man continued to watch the other man's profile intensely and Hiroto began to think that he was going to receive nothing at all. However, when the man in the glasses went on sipping from his glass and not paying attention to either of them, the older man turned to Hiroto with a slight smile on his lips.

"Pretty good, kid," he replied in a deep rumbling voice. "A bit quiet in here, isn't it?"

"Yes, well, not much can be expected from the less adventurous crowd, now can it? The feeble sheep know nothing beyond the gated pasture as the saying goes."

A dark eyebrow rose as the man regarded Hiroto curiously. "Oh? I don't believe I've ever heard that one. Who said it?"

"I did about ten seconds ago."

The man let out an echoing bellow at Hiroto's remark and jostled his companion soundly. "You hear that, boy? This homo kid sure is a funny one."

The long-haired man lurched forward in his seat at the man's push and a good amount of liquid sloshed out of his glass as a result. Setting his drink down, he faced the older man with a frown on his face. "I heard him, Miyoshi-sensei. Could I get some napkins, please?"

Hiroto nodded and handed the man a handful of napkins. Throwing a muttered thank you at the bartender, the stranger patted at his shirt which bore a small damp spot from the spilt alcohol. "So what do you boys do during light hours?" Hiroto inquired of the two men.

"Well, I'm a Professor at the university," the older man answered with a grin on his pleasant face. "Agriculture."

"Agriculture, huh? A good friend of mine is working towards his bachelor's degree in Agriculture. Perhaps you know him?"

"I just might, kid. What's his name?"

Hiroto opened his mouth to tell the professor about Morinaga but stopped short. He couldn't drop the M-word now. What fun would it be if he let loose that he knew the green-eyed man? If Morinaga's senpai was as skittish about homosexuality as Morinaga claimed he was then by revealing that he knew the guy would probably cause him to evacuate the bar. Which would ultimately lead to Hiroto being bored out of his skull once again. "Ah. I don't think you would. He's a...she. Yes, a she. So sorry about the confusion."

"I have female students," the professor replied with a note of derision in his tone.

"Much to the dismay of female students everywhere," the long-haired man muttered as he dropped the napkins onto the counter and picked up his glass once more. Taking a gulp, he sighed and resumed his observation of the bar.

Hiroto was at a loss about the situation. For all intents and purposes, it looked like the younger man would rather be eating nails than spending time with the professor. And if that was the case then why was he with the other man in the first place? From what Morinaga had told him, his senpai was strong-minded as the best of them and didn't do anything that he didn't want to. Yet here he was in a gay bar in the company of a man that couldn't even hold his attention for longer than thirty seconds. It was rather mystifying. "Is your friend a student of yours?" Hiroto questioned with a gesture towards the sullen man.

"It's none of your business," the long-haired man shot back with a dim glare.

"Tatsumi-kun!" the professor chided. "Be civil, will you? The kid's just doing his job."

"Then he can do his job by getting me another drink."

The professor chuckled and pushed the empty glasses forward. "You heard him, kid."

Hiroto nodded and excused himself. He walked over to Drake who had resumed his forceful drying off of already dry mugs. "Drake, they want refills."

"Last time I checked, which was now, you were a bartender too, Hiroto," the blonde replied without breaking eye contact with his medial task.

"I have to make a phone call. Please, D?" Hiroto pleaded with what he hoped was a pathetic enough pout.

Drake tossed the rag down and faced Hiroto. "I don't like them especially that older guy. There's something off about him."

"The professor?" Hiroto replied with clear confusion in his tone. "But he's nice. Well, from what I gathered."

"You gathered wrong, Hiroto. He's...doesn't he seem fake to you?"

"Fake how?"

"Like every smile and every witty remark he makes was planned out. Like he thinks about it before he actually does it. He doesn't come off very natural to me."

Hiroto couldn't stifle the scoff that tumbled from his lips. "And you surmised all of this from five minutes of observation, Detective?"

"Excuse me?" an impatient holler from Morinaga's senpai broke through the conversation. "I don't mean to be a bother or anything but could I get a drink please?"

"Come on, D. Please?"

"I don't see why-."

"Thank you!" Hiroto patted the blonde on the shoulder and quickly made his way to the back room. Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, he hurriedly dialed Morinaga's number. Settling his tall frame onto an armchair, he sat back and waited for his friend to pick up.

"Hello?" Morinaga answered in a groggy and sleep-thickened tone.

"Angel-kun!" Hiroto responded brightly. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Hiroto-kun?"

"Got it in one, gorgeous."

Morinaga groaned and the sound of bed sheets rustling could be heard behind the man's reply. "Hiroto-kun, what is it? It's late and I need to sleep."

"Angel-kun, can't I call to say hello and that I miss you horribly?"

"Not at nearly one in the morning you can."

"But it's not like I can tell it to your face since you never come ar-."

"Good night, Hiroto-kun."

"Okay okay!" Hiroto interjected quickly. "Just hold on! I didn't call you to tell you that I miss you although I do."

Morinaga sighed unsympathetically at Hiroto's words. "Then why did you call? And please make it quick. I'm going to head over to the lab as early as I can today because...because I need to talk with Senpai about something and I don't want to put him in a bad mood by distracting him from his work."

Hiroto snickered in response. Oh, Morinaga's senpai was going to be in a bad mood regardless of how early the green-eyed man came in. Mr. Jolly Hangover would make sure of that. "I don't think you have to worry too much about that, Angel-kun."

"What? Why?"

"Because your impossibly perfect senpai is well on his way to falling off the stools as we speak."

"Wait, what?"

"He's intent on getting plastered, Angel-kun."

"I don't understand."

"Plastered. Drunk, wasted, smashed, tanked, stewed. High as a kite."

"I know what it means, Hiroto-kun! I meant, I don't understand how _you_ know about this."

"Because I'm the world-renowned Miss Cleo when I moonlight in drag, that's why. Come on, Angel-kun! How else would I know?"

"...He's there?"

"Yes, dear."

"In AdamSite?"

Hiroto fought the urge to slap his forehead at his friend's obtuseness. "Yes, Angel-kun. He's here. In AdamSite."

"Hiroto-kun, that's really just impossible. Senpai would never be seen alive in a bar like AdamSite. You must have the wrong guy."

Hiroto inspected his free hand nonchalantly as he spoke rather glibly in response. "Do I? Long hair, glasses, a tight body that I would love to-."

"There are a lot of guys that fit that description," Morinaga pointed out bluntly.

Hiroto's jaw dropped in indignation. Sometimes he wondered why he kept this boy around so much. He really did. "You know, you're right, Angel-kun. What was I thinking? Well, I'm sorry to have woken you up for nothing. I'll just be on my way now. Tatsumi-san and his professor friend don't seem like the type to wait around too long. See you l-."

"Wait!" Morinaga hollered in desperation causing Hiroto to nearly drop his phone from the sheer volume.

"Ow! Geez, Angel-kun! That was my ear, you know!"

"I'm sorry Im sorry. You-you said, his name was Tatsumi?"

"_Yes_," Hiroto replied a little snappishly as he switched his phone over to his other side and rubbed his now ringing ear with the palm of his hand. "That's your _love_, right? Tatsumi...what was his given name?"

"Souichi," Morinaga whispered almost as if he was frightened of anyone hearing him say the name out loud.

"Yeah, Tatsumi Souichi. Well, he's here."

"With who?"

"I don't know. Some professor from your school."

"A professor? Why would Senpai...unless...but, he wouldn't. He _hates_ him...but it could be Fukushima-sensei. But it can't be Fukushima-sensei. The guy is so _old_..."

"Hey, Angel-kun, as fun as it is to hear your tennis-match remarks with yourself, I gotta get back to the front. I have a sexy disgruntled blonde to deal with and having him upset with me doesn't really fit into my plans of bedding him so.."

"Okay, I'm sorry. Thank you for calling me and letting me know...Hiroto-kun?"

"Present."

"Why _did_ you call to let me know?"

"I'm not too sure. I don't know how this whole being-in-love thing works but I assume wanting to know where the other person is every minute of every hour of the day is part of it, right?"

"Ah, not exactly but I appreciate it anyway. Hiroto-kun...could you do me a favor?"

"Mr. Hiroto accepts sexual services as payment for any favors thus conducted by his drop-dead sexy person. Does the second party agree to these terms?"

Morinaga sighed heavily causing a grin to form on the bartender's face. "Please put said favor on the tab of one Morinaga Tetsuhiro."

"Duly noted, sir. Now what may I do for you?"

"Hiroto-kun, please make sure that Senpai doesn't drink much more. He gets drunk pretty quickly and I'm a little worried about him. He had a...he had a rough day today and I think he might be trying to drown it out. Maybe you could do that bartender thing and point to a sign over your shoulder about how the establishment reserves the right to refuse service to anyone you want? Or maybe-."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Angel-kun," Hiroto interrupted as he sat forward in his seat. "Hold on. You want me to refuse to serve?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not too hard, right? You say no and Senpai goes home."

"Okay, Lovely, let me set two things straight for you here: one, how are you so sure your senpai won't go drinking himself silly somewhere else and two, are you out of your love-crazed mind? Do you know what happened to the last bartender we had that got between a guy hell-bent on getting sloshed and his drink?"

"No..."

"We built a plaque in his honor to commemorate his foolish bravery and departure. Now tell me, do you wish something like that to befall on your poor devilishly attractive friend?"

"Hiroto-kun, that can't be true."

"You're right, it's not. But the point is that I'm not about to have my bangable ass handed to me by your violent senpai, Angel-kun."

"I'm sorry," Morinaga said softly. "It's just that...I love him so much and I worry about him, you know? I just want him to be safe all the time. And I've upset him so much already that I can't just go down there myself and watch over him."

"Angel-kun..."

"So I thought that maybe I could get the person that I trust the most to understand how I feel and to help me. I mean, no one knows me like you do, Hiroto-kun."

"Oh no, no, no, no, _no_," Hiroto cut in when the sound of Morinaga sniffling pitifully filtered through the phone. "I'm not doing it. Forget it."

"I understand," Morinaga answered brokenly. "It _is_ up to you. I guess I better prepare my first-aid kit for tomorrow when I get beaten on by Senpai for no reason at all."

"I'm not doing it."

"It always hurts so much..."

"I'm _not_ doing it."

"And I won't think of you while I'm bleeding in pain, I promise. Of how you could have prevented it-."

"Fine! Fine. Just shut up already all right! I'll do it."

"Thank you, Hiroto-kun!" Morinaga responded brightly.

"You play ball mighty dirty, gorgeous," Hiroto muttered as he flopped bonelessly into the armchair. "It's enough to make me weep with pride."

"I never claimed to be a straight shooter."

"Don't we know it."

"And don't worry about Senpai going anywhere else if you kick him out. It's getting late so if he strikes out there, he'll most likely head home. Unless maybe you could..."

"I'm not following him home, Angel-kun."

"Right. It was just an idea."

Hiroto sighed at his friend's overprotective nature. It was certainly endearing for the most part but when it came to His Holiness The Senpai, it was just plain creepy. "I gotta go. Off to the gallows and all that."

"Oh, he's not so bad, Hiroto-kun."

"He kicks and punches you if you so much as _breathe_ wrong, Angel-kun, so forgive me for being more than a little concerned about my physical well-being."

"Ah, that's right. You do have to make your living somehow," Morinaga cracked with a snort.

"Oh ha ha. This coming from the guy who gets beaten daily all for the sake of _love_."

"I like to think that he does it out of a deep-seated attraction for me."

"Angel-kun, if that's the case, then you are his freaking _soulmate_."

Morinaga paused for a moment before replying. "I know, Hiroto-kun. I know."

Hiroto shook his head and rose out of the chair to his feet. "Whatever, Love Bug. I'm off. I'll see you this weekend like we planned."

"Wait, what?" Morinaga sputtered in surprise. "We never planned anything."

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Hiroto said in mock innocence. "Silly me. Oh, well. Come in during my shift. See you!"

"Wait, Hiroto-ku-."

Hiroto ended the call with a smug grin on his lips. If the guy thought that he was going to order him to an early grave and not do anything in return then he was sorely mistaken. An eye for an eye, right? Wasn't that how favors operated?

Up at the front, Hiroto was surprised to see Morinaga's senpai and the professor deep in a quiet discussion. He had assumed that the words 'low-volume' didn't exist in either of their vocabulary banks but the conversation was just that It looked really important as well if the frown on Tatsumi's face and the way he was clutching his half-full glass were of any indication.

"What happened there?" Hiroto questioned Drake quietly who was rinsing off some glasses in the counter sink to the side.

"How should I know?" the blonde responded sharply. "I'm not about to stand around listening to some bigoted nonsense."

Hiroto shot his friend a look of surprise. "Hey, D, it's okay. People like that exist in the world. It's a natural flaw. Don't let it bother you. I mean, you aren't even gay."

Drake seemed to ignore Hiroto's light chuckle and continued to rinse out the glasses. "Whatever, man."

"Well, whatever it is, it's not going very well," Hiroto replied as he turned his focus to the two men. "Tatsumi-san doesn't seem too pleased."

"Tatsumi-san?" Drake said in confusion. Setting down the last tumbler, the American turned towards Hiroto with raised eyebrows. "You know them?"

"Of him," Hiroto corrected. "Only the guy with the long hair. You remember my friend from the university? Morinaga Tetsuhiro? He's kind of tall with dark hair and gorgeous green eyes."

"Morinaga..." Drake pondered for a minute before snapping his fingers in recognition. "Ah! The one always talking about how much he wants his boss from school, right?"

"More or less. Anyway, the guy Morinaga wants is _him_." Hiroto tilted his head slightly in the bespectacled man's direction.

Drake followed Hiroto's line of vision before turning wide aqua eyes back onto the brown-haired man. "No way! The homophobe is your friend's crush?"

"One and the same."

"Well shit. It's a small world, after all. Even here in Japan. Hey, was that why you were being so weird earlier? You know, even more than usual?"

Hiroto shoved the snickering blonde. "Shut up."

The two bartenders continued to watch the conversation before them until the dark-haired professor rose his head and gestured Drake over. With a long-suffering sigh, the blonde pushed off from his position against the sink and walked over to them. Hiroto couldn't help the lewd thoughts that tumbled around in his head at the sight of his friend's perfectly shaped bottom sheathed in form-fitting slacks. Drake Hunter was a beautiful piece of man indeed. If only he would wise up and accept Hiroto's advances then everything would go swimmingly. Hiroto's dirty train of thought was derailed at the sound of ice clinking into the bottom of empty glasses. Shaking his head free, he focused forward and saw Drake putting the finishing touches on two full tumblers and presenting them to the two men.

With no further questions, he strode forward and stopped at Drake's side. He stealthily lowered his hand and placed it on the American's crotch and gently squeezed what he found there. Letting loose a girlish yelp, Drake's hands fumbled blindly causing one of the glasses to tilt forward onto it's side. In relief, Hiroto saw that the drink currently spilt over the counter was the one intended for Tatsumi.

"Hiroto!" Drake exclaimed with an indignant huff and a reddened face.

'What?" Hiroto responded with wide guileless eyes.

"What the fuck?" Tatsumi hollered as he quickly jumped off his stool. "What is wrong with you homos? Do you think I could get my drink in a glass and not on my pants? Is it really too hard?"

"I'm so sorry, sir," Drake apologized hurriedly as he grabbed a fresh cloth and ran around the counter to wipe up the spill. "I'm really sorry. It was a complete accident."

"Obviously," the other man muttered and shot an annoyed glare at the professor seated near him who was chuckling in amusement. "What?"

"Nothing, Tatsumi-kun," the dark-haired man replied before taking a sip from his drink. "Ah, that's delicious."

"Whatever," Tatsumi sneered and regarded Drake who was was standing with the rag in his hands. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the blonde started off hesitantly, "but would you like to dry off your pants?"

Tatsumi threw a look of contempt at the bartender and snatched the cloth from his hands roughly. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? All part of your big homo plan I presume. Spilling fucking drinks over guys and all that?"

"I'm not-sir, I'm not-," Drake stammered.

"Not what?" Tatsumi needled cruelly. "Competent? Able? A decent bartender?"

Drake shot a silent plea for assistance at the professor who missed it by throwing his head back and erupting into a fit of loud laughter. "Sir, I don't think that's very fair. It was an accident I assure you."

"As was your birth most likely," the professor chimed in as he settled down.

Drake's fists clenched at his sides. "I'm not g-!"

"He's not going to make your drink, sir," Hiroto cut in before Drake lost control of himself. "I am. D, you can take a break now. Go on, I got it."

Drake released the tension thrumming through his body and slowly backed away from the long-haired man who was too busy patting at his pants to notice the glare of hatred aimed at his head. Without a glance in Hiroto's direction, the blonde stormed off to the back and out of sight. Hiroto bit his lip in worry at the departing form that was his enraged friend. Well, there went any progress he had made in his never-ending journey to get the American under his sheets. Not that it was much but it was something and it was all blown to the wind now. Morinaga was going to owe him much more than a pity visit now.

Hiroto's light eyes snapped to attention when the rag was unceremoniously dropped onto the counter in front of him. Meeting the disgusted regard of Morinaga's senpai who had seated himself down once again, he fixed a plastic smile on his face. "I really do apologize, sir. What'll you be having?"

"Whisky," came the brisk reply.

"I'm sorry. We're out," Hiroto replied just as promptly.

"What are you talking about?" Tatsumi hissed out heatedly. "That moron foreigner of yours just poured us two glasses a few minutes ago!"

"Did he?" Hiroto said with false surprise. "Tsk tsk. He knows that we've been instructed to lock our whiskey for the night. You see, we have a private party tomorrow evening and we've been requested to refrain from selling any. It's a group favorite you understand."

The long-haired man slitted his golden eyes in rage at Hiroto's explanation. "No, I do _not_ understand. This is a bar. It's your job to serve people what they want."

"Come now, Tatsumi-kun," the professor spoke up. "If he can't then he can't. No harm done. Order something else."

"Fine," Tatsumi bit out between clenched teeth. "Give me vodka."

"Out."

"Sake."

"Ditto."

"Beer."

"No can do, sir."

"You're out of fucking beer?" Morinaga's senpai exclaimed in exasperation.

"The party likes to drink. A lot."

"Well, who the hell are these people?"

Hiroto smirked and leveled the man with twinkling eyes. "A friend of the owner just got married. It's the celebration party."

'Why would a woman want her wedding party at a homo bar?"

"Who said anything about a _woman_ being there?"

A thick silence filled the tepid air of the bar before Tatsumi slammed a fist onto the counter and swiftly stood up. "Fuck this. I'm out of here." The livid man yanked his jacket on and made to walk away but stopped suddenly. Facing the professor who was seated comfortably on his stool with his drink in his hand, Tatsumi gave him a pointed look.

"Yes, Tatsumi-kun?" the older man said nonchalantly.

"I said I'm leaving."

"Yes, I heard that part."

"So why are you still sitting?"

The man set his glass down gently and swiveled in his seat to face Tatsumi. "There lies the answer, boy. _You're_ leaving. I, on the other hand, am not quite as ready."

Tatsumi's lips thinned as his attractive features contorted with anger. "Fine. Do whatever the hell you want. I could really give a fuck, Miyoshi-_sensei_." Shoving a hand into his pocket, he pulled out a fistful of coins and dropped them with ringing noises onto the counter. "For your friend," Tatsumi sneered at Hiroto and exited the bar with a slamming of the doors.

"That boy should really watch his tongue around me," the professor sighed in reprimand. "He forgets who I am."

"You're his teacher?" Hiroto asked as he took his eyes from the door to the older man.

The man gave no answer and tilted his tumbler to swallow the last gulp of his drink. Smacking his lips in delight, he placed his glass down and stood up. "How much do I owe you, kid?"

"Well, I really shouldn't charge you considering how much we've upset your friend."

"Tatsumi-kun? Don't worry about it. He's like that. But you won't hear any complaints from me. Free drinks are free drinks."

"Our apologies once again, sir, but...weren't you staying? I mean, you told-."

"Nonsense," the man replied with a low rumble of laughter in his chest. "What I'm after would never be found in a gay bar. I owe you one, kid."

Hiroto frowned in confusion at the man's departing words and watched silently as he slipped on his coat and left the bar leaving amused chuckles behind him. Shaking his head in disbelief at straight men and his inability to understand the inner workings of their minds, he reached a hand out to scoop up the scattered coins but was halted by a voice behind him.

"Is that for the bill?" Drake asked in a soft tone that was uncharacteristic for the blonde.

"Ah...not exactly," Hiroto responded with a touch of guilt as Drake stood next to him and looked at the coins dejectedly.

"It's tip then?"

"Y-yeah. D, don't worry about it. The guy was an asshole." _Sorry, Morinaga._

"He tipped me," Drake continued on mournfully. "I've never been tipped before."

Hiroto placed a comforting hand on the his friend's shoulder. "Hey, it happens to the best of us." In a flash, he found himself met with a pair of blazing blue eyes and his hand was knocked off. Stepping back a step, Hiroto was startled by Drake's feral glare.

"It happens?" the blonde said deeply. "It _happens_? Hiroto, you're an ass."

"What are you talking about? D? Drake, what the hell? Drake!" Hiroto reached out and grabbed the retreating figure before he could disappear into the back room and found himself shoved away as a result.

"Just leave me the hell alone, Hiroto!" Drake hollered. "I'm going. I never should have left Ayumi. I should have just stayed with her. I know I would have had a much better time with her than here with you!"

"Drake, what's going on?" Hiroto questioned in utter disbelief. 'Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" the American responded in a tone that indicated that he knew exactly what Hiroto meant.

"Doing..." Hiroto fumbled for the right words before tossing his hands up in frustration," this!"

Deep blue eyes narrowed in indecipherable emotions. "Define 'this', Hiroto. You're a man of many words, aren't you? Although the majority of those words are just empty fluff."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the brown-haired man snarled out.

A moment's pace passed in the tension-filled room as the two men regarded each other with a maelstrom of unspoken words colliding between them. Drake held his gaze before breaking away. Running a hand through his pale locks, he heaved a weary sigh. "Forget it. It means nothing." The American turned away to head to the back before being stopped by Hiroto.

"No, it's not, D. Don't tell me it's nothing because it isn't. What are you getting at calling me empty?"

Hiroto saw the other man stiffen slightly before turning to face him. The raw feelings that he saw on his friend's face almost caused him to gasp in surprise. He couldn't grasp the situation firmly. Drake had never said anything like this to him before and the blonde's unexpected words had shot a hole somewhere within him.

"It's exactly how I said it, Hiroto. Ever since I've known you, you've skimmed through life not feeling anything. You use people to fill you up inside and you discard them just as quickly. What's left behind, huh? Just the pretty-faced hollow _shell_ that you started off as. You don't care about what your actions do to people or how it makes them _feel_. You only care about yourself, Hiroto, and I can't take it anymore."

"Is this about what I did earlier? Look, I'm sorry if it made you feel weird or anything but I had to do it to-."

"It's not about that!" Drake shouted causing Hiroto to visibly flinch. "Not fully. Did you even stop to consider how that would make me feel? And to top it all off I had to apologize and get berated by assholes that you _knew_ I didn't like. And you expect me to smile pretty and do what you want no questions asked? To make drinks like you want and disappear when you want?

"D, I-.

"Hiroto, you're very important to me but I can't let you use me anymore. It's not fair."

An unexpected flare of fury ignited within Hiroto's chest suddenly. "_Fair_? It's not _fair_? How the hell do you think it makes me feel to hear you gush on and on about some stupid girl? Do you think I _like_ watching you trip and fawn over someone else when I-." Hiroto paused in mid-sentence and fell silent.

"When you what, Hiroto?" Drake said with a layer of frost coated over his words. "When you want to fuck me yourself?"

"Drake!"

"It's the truth, isn't it? That's what you've been gunning after since I got here."

"It isn't like that."

"Oh? Hiroto, you _live_ for recruiting hets. It's all just a big game to you. 'How long will it take me to get him in my bed?' 'How long before he leaves his girlfriend for me?' 'How quickly can I get him on his knees with his mouth open?' And once you fuck them, you just throw them away like used toys regardless of how much they foolishly loved you. Well, I'm not playing. This is one guy that you _won't_ notch into your bedpost because I have one advantage that all those other poor idiots didn't: I _know_ you."

The weight of Drake's words fell like a boulder in Hiroto's head and reverberated repeatedly. Was this what the blonde really thought of him? That he was just some sleazy lay bouncing from one mattress to another? How could he believe Hiroto to be nothing more than...than...some _slut_? Hiroto jolted out of his inner turmoil when he saw Drake pulling his jacket on. In a tone that could almost be equated with panic, he burst out hurriedly," Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, Hiroto," Drake responded tiredly. "I'm going over to Ayumi's because I am done for the night."

With no preamble, Hiroto sneered out nastily," That's it then? Off to shower her with money like the whore she probably is?"

Drake froze in place and harsh panting could be heard from the blonde's lips. Hiroto was certain that the American was going to pummel him into next week but instead Drake released a long breath, walked the short distance to the counter, and scooped up the spiteful coins left behind by Morinaga's senpai.

"If it means so much to you," the man bit out once he was in front of Hiroto and proceeded to throw the currency into the brown-haired man's shocked face.

"Drake!" Hiroto sputtered out amidst the melody of the coins bouncing to the floor and coming to their resting spots.

"It's appropriate, isn't it, Hiroto?" the blonde replied dispassionately. "Because the only whore that I know around here is _you_." With one last rueful glare, Drake strode away and left the bar.

Long minutes after Drake had left, Hiroto found himself rooted to the same spot. it was unusually quiet in AdamSite. Much too quiet. Hiroto couldn't stand it. He liked to hear the murmur of people talking and having a good time. It drowned out any negativity that may be lurking in the bar. He could really use the noise right then because it was unusually quiet. Much too quiet. So quiet that he could hear the pounding of his heart in his chest and the roar of blood rushing like a rapid in his ears. It was unusually quiet. Much too quiet. So quiet that the sound of the tears streaming down his face and striking the metal coins below him were amplified and he felt a strong surge of shame because surely the world outside could hear the shattering drops. It was unusually quiet enough for that. Much too quiet.

* * *

><p>"Fucking smirking homo <em>idiot<em>," Souichi fumed as his long strides carried him over the mostly deserted sidewalk. "Feeding me such shit. A party my ass. Worthless piece of-."

"Tatsumi-kun!" an unwelcome voice called out from behind him. "Slow down, boy!"

Souichi looked over his shoulder and saw Professor Miyoshi hurriedly walking his way. Turning his gaze forward again, he quickened his pace in an effort to ditch the older man. Like hell he was going to spend another minute with the moron. Getting completely wasted was the only incentive of spending time with the professor and look at him now. He had barely a buzz going on and his mood had taken a dive for the worst.

"Tatsumi-kun!" Miyoshi called out once more as large hands took a hold of Souichi's shoulders and spun him around. "Will you wait? How could you make an old man like me run after you?'

Souichi slid a cool gaze over the man and noted that he looked neither tired or out of breath. "I'm going home, Miyoshi-sensei. Good night."

"Oh no, boy!" the professor replied and tightened his grip on Souichi slightly. "We promised to solve your little problem before the night was done and we are going to do just that."

Souichi scoffed and pushed the professor's hands off of his body. "We've already been kicked out of all the good places around here and there is no _way_ that I'm going back to that homo bar."

"And who can we thank for that, Tatsumi-kun?" Miyoshi said with a pointed look in his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

The professor continued his gaze and shook his head. "We got kicked out of Kuru-Kuru because you shoved a man off his seat."

"That asshole was taking up too much of the bartender's time with his sissy order!"

"We got kicked out of Paradissimo because you tossed your drink _in_ the bartender's face."

"That tight-wad bastard served me watered-down liquor."

"And what about Curtains? You punched a man in the face for no discernible reason."

"...He was standing too close to me," Souichi muttered gravely.

"Tatsumi-kun, you are a chore, m'boy. And I suppose that only adds to your charm. The night is young. Let's be off."

Souichi stood still in his spot. "To where?"

"To my place obviously," Miyoshi answered. "Apparently, you and the general public disagree with each other so we'll continue this elsewhere. Although I do wish I had known of your penchant for violence earlier. It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

Souichi remained silent. Was he actually going to willingly go with the professor and further subject himself to the man's constant babbling?

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Tatsumi-kun," Miyoshi stated firmly.

It seemed that his mind had been made up for him. "Do you have alcohol?" Souichi asked bluntly.

"Of course," the older man responded with a wide toothy grin.

"Fine," Souichi acquiesced and motioned for the professor to lead the way. To no surprise but to his dismay, Miyoshi threw a heavy arm over his shoulders and moved him along all the while nattering on about matters that Souichi could really give two shits about.

He nodded mindlessly as his thoughts turned to a certain dark-haired man once again. In his mind's eye, he replayed what had happened earlier that day. Could it possibly be true? Could Morinaga really be in love with him? In disgust, Souichi banished the insane notions. No, he had made up his mind on the whole ordeal. Morinaga had taken a simple joke and ran with it. He knew of Souichi's hatred for homos and he had tastelessly exploited it. It was completely underhanded but Souichi supposed he could expect no less from a simple person like Morinaga. He was going to punch the guy square in the nose and once he heard the crunch of broken bone beneath his fist, he would forgive the man for what he had pulled. That was that. No more and no less. He would give Morinaga no other thoughts for the remainder of the spoiled evening. All he was concerned about was how much alcohol Miyoshi had at his place and how fast he could get it into his system.

_Go ahead and laugh all you want, Morinaga_, he whispered darkly to himself. _Because you won't be in my head any longer today. No...no longer..._


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer**: Koisuru Boukun and all of the characters contained therein are the sole property of Takanaga Hinako. I own nothing. I profit nothing. I am nothing.  
><strong>Author<strong>: AngelIsOnCrack  
><strong>Rating<strong>: Moderate  
><strong>Synopsis<strong>: That first night with Tatsumi Souichi was absolute wonder but what Morinaga Tetsuhiro doesn't know is that what he thinks was Senpai's first time...wasn't.  
><strong>Chapter Notes<strong>: I've never been to Japan (WHY?) so I have no clue as to how the subways operate there. Or teacher/student relationships. Or how the process of becoming a teaching professor works. All I know is that I heart KSB too much sometimes. And that this chapter was fun to write. YAY.

Chapter Five

_The air was cold that starless night. Frigid curls of wind invisible to the human eye snaked a path through the darkened house and settled amongst the corners and crannies that littered the way. Howling and moaning a song befit for the passing of a mighty king, the presence of such a gale was odd for such a modest home. Was there a meaning for the wind? Could there be a reason for it's frozen gaze?_

_The young boy of thirteen sitting desolately at his open window would know the answers. Yet his lips remained closed and his fists remained clenched. The wind wrapped around his slight frame like an icy coat but no shivers or shakes met it's embrace. The boy sat still as his emotionless eyes were fixed at the scene that played outside below his window. The absolute nothingness that flittered across his boyish features was unsettling. The dark blue of the curtains billowed around him like the waves of the sea but it seemed to mean nothing to the boy. At that moment in time, the boy was as cold as the air around him._

_A man and woman were arguing. The man had a firm grip on the open door of a grey town car while the woman hollered obscenities at him. Pieces of luggage lay at the man's feet and, as the woman continued to shout and curse his name, the man hastily tossed the items into the car. A suitcase slammed into the backseat of the car and thudded clumsily to the car floor where it lay crooked and dejected. In a certain way, the innocent piece of luggage seemed to be fitting for the chaos of the man and woman. The man never let his hold on the door waver or loosen. Perhaps, in his turbulent mind, the man saw the door as his lifeline. The only way out and he was not about to let it slip away. The man made to get into the car but was roughly grabbed by the woman. With a jostle and a shove, the woman was tossed to the ground. Sparing her not a single parting glance, the man got into the car and sped away into the inky night. The woman remained motionless._

_The young boy gazed at her prone form and, like the turning of the dark side of the moon, a sneer marred his youthful features. Like the proverbial floodgates of a stricken city, emotions began to pounce and drag within him. While the house remained cold and unfeeling, the boy became hot and red. Growling, the young boy reached out and clamped a hand around a tiny ceramic figurine that lay next to him. It was a statue of a sturdy man and a smiling woman embracing a little boy in their arms. It was a family. A perfect family captured in a perfect moment. With a holler of pure rage, the boy sent the fragile figurine hurtling through the cold air where it shattered against a pale wall. Tiny pieces rained down to the wooden floorboards and a melodious song could be heard amongst their landings._

_The boy heard none of it._

_The boy saw none of it._

_It all mattered so very little to him. The boy became calm once again. Running a steady hand through his dark locks, the boy threw a last glance out the window. The woman was gone. The sound of the front door of the simple home rang out as it was opened and shut and unsteady footsteps clambered up the stairs. The boy stepped back from his spot at the window and placed himself on the bed. Crossing his legs and planting his hands firmly on the mattress, the boy turned a gaze onto the open doorway._

_Moments later, the woman appeared._

* * *

><p><em>"Your father left," Natsuki whispered in a trembled tone.<em>

_"I can see that," Reiji shot back as he turned a condemning glare onto the shivering woman. "Is it for good this time?"_

_"I...I t-think so," she wailed as tears began to stream down her placid face._

_Reiji snorted at the the woman's overemotional state. So his bastard of a father had finally deserted him? Fine. Let the dog go and screw his dirty bitches. The man was a drunken no good shit anyway. But now, Reiji was left alone with the sniveling woman in front of him. Natsuki was covered in snot and dirt from her tumble to the ground. Her bare legs were streaked with soil and the faint marking of a bruise could be seen beneath one of her kneecaps. Her clothes were wrinkled and hung limply from her scant figure. Long locks of hair as black as Reiji's own were pinned up but large portions of her hair had come loose from the clip and tangled about her face. It was disgusting. Women shouldn't be so dirty or pathetic._

_Natsuki wiped at her face and held out quivering arms towards Reiji's still frame seated on his bed. "Come here, Reiji-kun. Come make Mama feel better, my love."_

_Reiji balked at the idea of stepping into the woman's filthy embrace. "Hell no, Natsuki. You're dirty. Go take a bath." The image of Reiji holding the woman's head underwater until she stopped struggling alighted in his brain. A tiny smile crept onto his face at the amusing idea. "What?" he asked warily when he caught the fond look in Natsuki's eyes._

_"You look like your father when you smile like that," the woman all but sighed out._

_The smile disappeared in an instance. Silence covered the room like a blanket as Reiji averted his dark eyes to the side and gazed at the broken figurine that lay on the floor. He barely noticed the sniffling woman quietly shuffling closer to him. He could only focus on the sharp edges of the fragments of ceramic. The mess bothered him. He hated messes. Hated them. Letting out a sigh that was tinged with weariness, Reiji rose up from the bed and strode forward. Ignoring the look of delight on Natuski's face as he stepped closer, Reiji rose a hand and brought it down on the woman's face and slapped that grotesque fondness out of her. Natsuki fell to the floor with a strangled cry._

_"Don't ever compare me to that piece of shit again, Natsuki," Reiji hissed with blazing frigidity in his eyes as he bent himself slightly over the cowering woman._

_"He's your father, Reiji-kun!" the woman moaned as she looked up into her son's beautiful face._

_"I don't have a father," Reiji stated with the blank finality of death. Shoving Natsuki aside, Reiji made for the door._

_"Reiji-kun!" Natsuki called out as she grabbed a hold of his wrist in her trembling hands. "Reiji! Please, son! I can't have you mad at me! Tell me what to do to make it better!"_

_Reiji shook the weak hold off of him and made his way down the stairs. Stopping in front of the mirror that hung in the family room, Reiji inspected his appearance closely. With disdain at the the wrinkles in his sleeve from Natsuki's clutch, he straightened his shirt and adjusted his collar so that it lay on his collarbone at just the right angle._

_"Reiji!" Natsuki shouted from above. "Love, I'm sorry!"_

_"Disgusting," Reiji muttered as he smoothed his hair down with calm precision. Satisfied with his impeccable countenance, Reiji sauntered into the kitchen and began the preparations for his dinner. For some unknown reason, he was in the mood for sukiyaki._

* * *

><p>"Oi, Reiji! Over here!"<p>

Miyoshi Reiji turned a blank eye towards the call and immediately noticed a rotund man waving at him frantically. The eager signaling seemed to be leeching at the man's energy as the hideous fat attached to his upper arms shook with the effort and his gaping mouth struggled for oxygen. Reiji wanted to shove his own head into the glass window of the cafe that he had just walked out of. After another long day at the university, he had stopped by for a coffee, decaf and absolutely no cream or sugar, and was on his way home when he had heard his name being called out. After realizing who it was, he should have just ignored it and headed off.

"Reiji! Oi!" the man continued to call out and was oblivious to the stares that he was attracting from the frowning faces surrounding him.

"I heard you the first time, you fat fuck," Reiji murmured before carefully placing a look of surprise and excitement on his handsome features. "Well, what do you know! Hiroshi!" he called out in response.

Reiji maneuvered his muscular frame through the various tables and chairs and joined the man at his table. Fujimoto Hiroshi was the head professor of the Agricultural department at N. University and was a reasonably intelligent man. If one could consider an overbearing, clinging, and morbidly obese man to be intelligent which Reiji absolutely did not. Hiroshi was a giant idiot in his opinion. Reiji grimaced at the fat shit's disheveled appearance. Rivulets of perspiration streamed down Hiroshi's temples and dotted his forehead. The fabric of his thrift store shirt stuck to his blubber like a grotesque second skin. It was indeed a muggy late afternoon but that certainly didn't give the man the right to look like a cow headed for slaughter.

"Reiji, how are you?" Hiroshi questioned as he placed a damp palm on Reiji's shoulder. "Come! Sit, sit!"

Reiji nodded and sat down. He was entirely too grateful to have Hiroshi's sweaty paw off of him. The pristine white shirt that he wore was worth more than the whale's life. Reiji ran his hands down his slacks smoothing out any unsightly wrinkles that may have occured when he had seated himself. Once he was sure that he was crinkle-free, he patted his dark hair carefully to assure that no stray locks had fallen out of place.

Hiroshi guffawed at Reiji's movements as he sank his heavy frame into his chair with a huff. "You're worse than the girls at the school, Reiji! You worried that the air might attack you with dirt or something?" The man continued to chuckle as he grabbed a muffin and slathered it with butter before taking a giant bite. "You want some?" Hiroshi asked as crumbles fell from his mouth to the table.

Reiji wanted to do nothing more than toss his piping hot drink into the man's disgusting face. Oh, how he would love to see the fat bubble and drip off of Hiroshi's bones. Well, his coffee wasn't nearly hot enough to achieve that but one could only wish. "No, I'm good, Hiroshi," Reiji replied smoothly as he gestured towards his coffee cup.

"If you say so," Hiroshi responded with a shrug. "But, let me tell you that this place has the best baked goods around. Very tasty and you know that I'm a sucker for delicious things. Never mind all that though. Where have you been? You keep turning down my invites to get a drink. You that busy or do you hate me now?" the man remarked with a grin.

"Pretty much."

Hiroshi's grin faltered at Reiji's response. "What?"

"I've been busy," Reiji filled in with a smile of his own.

"Oh!" Hiroshi exclaimed with obvious relief. "Right, right. Busy doing what, may I ask?"

Reiji's reply was cut short when a plate of cookies was placed in front of him. Looking up, Reiji saw a petite girl with long black hair gazing at him timidly. The girl was chewing at her bottom lip and nervously tugging at her sleeves.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation," the girl said in a soft voice, "but I made these especially for Miyoshi-sensei and I wanted to give them to you myself, sir."

"Oh?" Reiji replied with a raise of a dark eyebrow. "And what did I do to deserve such a delicious-looking reward?"

"I don't think you remember me but I was in your Horticulture course last semester and you are...you're one of the best teachers that I have ever had," the girl replied bashfully.

Reiji observed her and came up with a complete blank. How the hell was he expected to remember all of these kids especially a girl with such a plain face covered by lank hair? Maybe if she had tried to look halfway decent he would remember her but she had about as much presence as the empty air that surrounded her. "Well, thank you, but I'm sure such a gracious form of appreciation would be better presented to a professor of higher standing than a guy like me," Reiji said as he glazed charm over his words to distract the girl from the fact that he had no damn clue of who she was.

"You should be a professor, Miyoshi-sensei," she continued on quietly. "I mean, an _actual_ professor."

"And what am I now?" Reiji remarked with a good-natured chuckle to which Hiroshi joined in as well.

A vivid blush bloomed on the girl's face as her eyes widened comically. "Oh no! No, that's not what I meant! Not at all!"

"It's okay," Reiji said calmly as he placed a hand on the girl's frail arm. "I know what you meant." _Little bitch_.

"You really should accept the department's offer to become a full professor, Reiji," Hiroshi spoke up amidst shovels of rice and meat into his mouth. "The students love you. They would actually listen to you from time to time."

The bustle of the crowd faded around Reiji for a brief moment as the idea of teaching spoiled snot-nosed brats disguised as adults full-time tore rampant through his head. There was really no fucking way that he was going to submit himself to something like that. Goodness knows what would become of him if he were to ever foolishly accept such an offer. He might end up a fat slob like Hiroshi who wouldn't give two shits if his oily heart gave out on him. Or he might become a doddering old fool like Fukushima and spend his days meandering through the halls one stroke away from death.

"How 'bout it, Reiji?" Hiroshi's question broke through Reiji's pensive state.

"I'll think about it," he responded. "I happen to like the ease that comes with being an assistant professor."

Hiroshi shrugged and tucked into his gruel once more. Reiji looked away in veiled disgust and realized that his hand was still on the girl's arm where she was staring at it in blatant awe. She seemed to be frozen as if she were afraid that the slightest of movements would cause his hand to disappear or flitter away like a butterfly. _Women. _Reiji snorted in his head as he moved his hand and placed it on his leg.

"Thank you for the gift," he said to the girl in hopes of getting rid of her as he surreptitiously wiped his palm on his slacks. "You're a real sweet one."

"Could you try one, sir?" she asked. "I want to be sure that you like them. If you don't, I could bake you another batch."

Reiji's smile became a solid ice block on his face. He had to actually eat one of those sugar death traps now? "Of course! Though I should offer one to Fujimoto-sensei first."

"Way ahead of you, pal," Hiroshi said as he snatched a cookie and disposed of it into his giant maw. "Damn, these sure are good, Kudou-san. Could I, Reiji?"

Reiji pushed the plate closer to the fat man and watched silently as Hiroshi helped himself to another with a grin of content smeared on his sweat-dampened face. So the girl's name was Kudou. Reiji wouldn't have recalled that if it were tattooed on her forehead. He didn't think that this bland girl's name was worth remembering but one could never tell. He filed it away in his brain in the off-hand chance that it would prove useful in the future.

"Miyoshi-sensei?"

"Yes, dear?" Reiji replied as he tore his eyes away from Hiroshi and focused on Kudou.

"Will you try one?" the girl questioned nervously.

"You really should, Reiji! They're absolutely delicious!"

No, what Reiji should try is giving the fat shit a swift kick in his minuscule balls. That would certainly be delicious. Instead, Reiji placed a smile on his face as he reached out for a cookie. He gingerly grabbed one and brought it closer to his mouth. The sickly sweet smell of sugar, butter, sugar, and sugar assaulted his nostrils. Inhaling softly, he took a bite. His throat immediately started to seize up and attack at the sugary invader. Keeping eye contact with Hiroshi and Kudou, he nodded in feigned approval and forcefully swallowed the bite down. Honestly, did the girl dump Japan's entire supply of sweetener into the batter or something? Reiji hated sweets. _Hated _them.

"Do you like it, Miyoshi-sensei?"

Reiji allowed a bit of his saliva to pool into his clamped mouth and swallowed the liquid down to chase the residues of the cookie down his throat. He looked at the girl with a combination of delight and awe. He had to admit that it was one of his best works considering how he longed to run to the nearest men's room and shove a pen down his throat just to get the bite to come surging back up. Just the thought of that artery-clogging piece of shit in _his_ body made him nauseous. "That is the best cookie that I have ever had the fortune of placing onto my taste buds! My dear, where did you learn to bake like that?"

The girl blushed a vivid red at Reiji's glowing praise. "My mother, sir," she stammered in response.

"Your mother?" Reiji said as his eyes dimmed slightly at the word.

Kudou nodded excitedly. "Absolutely. She owns a little bakery near the university. Would you come and visit us some time, Miyoshi-sensei? And you, too, Fujimoto-sensei. Her baking is much better than mine."

"Sure we will, Kudou-san!" Hiroshi replied genially. "Won't we, Reiji?"

_"Reiji-kun! Darling, come and try the cake your mother baked for you! It's shortcake with cream-filling and strawberries! Isn't that your favorite, love?"_

_"I hate cake, Natsuki. Why can't you ever remember that?"_

_"But, it's your birthday, darling! You wouldn't let me call any of the boys from school and take you all out to a nice restaurant like I wanted to."_

_"Even if I allowed you to do something useless like that, there wouldn't be any boys from anywhere to call. They're all idiots."_

_"Not even a cute girlfriend? You're a handsome boy, Reiji-kun. You should have the girls lining up for you."_

_"Especially not the girls, Natsuki. They're in that stage where they feel that every situation requires an inordinate amount of squealing and giggling."_

_"Won't you try just a little to make me happy?"_

_"Are you saying that the fact that it's my birthday doesn't make you happy in itself? That I have to let you fatten me up to please you as well?"_

_"Reiji-kun, don't say such things. You know that I love you. I just want to make you smile."_

_"You know what would make me smile, Natsuki? You getting that thing out of my face. The smell alone is revolting."_

_"...Of course, son. Whatever you want."_

"Reiji? You okay, buddy? Reiji?"

Reiji blinked the unbidden memory away and focused. He saw Hiroshi's worried frown and the girl's small hand on his arm.

"Miyoshi-sensei, are you okay?" Kudou asked as she nibbled on her bottom lip.

Reiji inwardly hissed. He despised being caught unawares and floating in his memories like that. It was an absolute human weakness to let foolish remembrances grip the mind and Reiji couldn't believe he had let it happen in front of that tub of lard and some girl that he didn't even recall. He clenched a fist against his leg and forced the anger within him at his unforgivable behavior to subside. Control was the most important thing at all times.

"Miyoshi-sensei?" the girl called out quietly.

"I'm fine," Reiji reassured as he patted Kudou's shoulder and removed his arm from her hand.

"Where'd you go?" Hiroshi questioned lightly. "You flew off somewhere without us. I was about in phone in for some air support."

Reiji burst out in exuberant laughter. Hiroshi grinned as he joined in causing the folds beneath his chin to tremble along. Oh, how Reiji was repulsed by the very sight of the useless man. Would Hiroshi's absence really be noticed? Would anyone miss the piece of shit? Reiji highly doubted it. The few people that would might actually weep about his disappearance for the turn of a day but they would get over it. So what if Hiroshi was an "esteemed" professor? The school system would take in anything and anyone these days. They had hired Reiji almost as soon as he had walked through the door. Of course, he had to screw a couple of old fucks in the process but that had been to get in their good graces. He had to admit though that making the tight-lipped head bitch of the school scream out and tremble in pleasure had been fun. _Really_ fun.

"Asuka-chan!"

"Asuka, come on! The movie will start soon!"

Kudou threw a quick look over her shoulder and nodded at a group of girls standing nearby beckoning to her. "Please come and visit us. It's the 'Little Kitty' bakery about a few blocks from the university. It was wonderful seeing you, Miyoshi-sensei. Fujimoto-sensei." The girl bowed and quickly made her way over to her friends who were giggling as girls were fated to do. Reiji had learned a long time ago that it wasn't a phase in life. That's just how gaggles of girls operated.

"Goodbye, Miyoshi-sensei!" the group of girls chorused out in unison and made their way down the street.

"You lucky guy," Hiroshi said as he snatched another cookie from the plate. "You have the girls at school smitten. Well, the ones with a teacher complex at least. I don't suppose anyone could blame them though. A handsome and well-put together man like you teaching starstruck girls with gleams of light in their eyes. It's like something out of a manga."

"They don't interest me," Reiji responded dismissively.

"Oh?" Hiroshi questioned in surprise. "Young beautiful women like them don't get you going, Reiji? You must be crazy, my friend! That or gay. I have to politely admit that you _do_ take care of your appearance abnormally well."

"I'm not."

"What? Crazy or gay?"

"Either," Reiji replied and took a slow sip from his coffee to wash the lingering taste of sugar from his throat.

"So what do you go for, buddy?"

Reiji thrummed his fingers on the tabletop as he pondered Hiroshi's question. In his mind's eye, he saw heads bowed in reverence and docile eyes widened with adoration and the utmost respect. He saw limbs folded beneath strong and weak bodies alike as gasps of pleasure fell from panting mouths simply because Reiji was standing over the prone forms. A tiny smirk graced Reiji's firm lips at the wonderful sight. "Submission," he answered below his breath.

Hiroshi leaned forward and cupped his ear. "Eh? Run that by me again?"

"Nothing," Reiji said as he ran his hands over his shirt. "I'm just flesh and bones such as yourself, Hiroshi. I have the same desires as any other poor schmuck walking these muggy streets. Perhaps I am better at being discreet about it? In any case, I had best be off. I have a certain matter to address tonight."

"Reiji! You just sat down! Can't you stay longer?"

Reiji would rather eat another one of that girl's horrible cookies than be seen out in public with Hiroshi any longer. "No can do, Hiroshi. Might I offer you this plate of cookies as an apology?"

The man's lips practically quivered and drooled at Reiji's offer before he reluctantly shook his head. "She made it for you, Reiji. I couldn't do that. But I will take one more."

"By all means," Reiji said as he stood up and held the plate out. "Now if you'll excuse me."

"See you later, Reiji. And I won't let you leave so quickly next time. You owe me a nice long chat, my friend."

Reiji felt his eye twitch minutely as he nodded in response. "Oh absolutely, Hiroshi. I'm looking forward to it."

Reiji left the cafe grounds and continued on his way down the street. Passing by a trashcan, he tossed the plate into the receptacle and wiped his hands clean of crumbs that he couldn't see but knew were lurking on his skin. Satisfied, he pulled out his cellphone and dialed a familiar number.

"What is it, Miyoshi-sensei?" a distinct voice answered after a few rings.

_Snarky little bastard today, isn't he? _ Reiji side-stepped for a toddling old bitch who should be having dessert with a death god instead of taking up space on the streets and focused his attention on Souichi. "Tatsumi-kun!" he bellowed loudly into the mouthpiece hopefully causing the man on the line to wince from the volume. "How are you, m'boy?"

"You mean since the last time you asked today? I'm still fine, Miyoshi-sensei."

Reiji's eyes narrowed slightly at Souichi's tone. The kid wasn't even trying to be respectful now. The irritation in his nasally voice was distinct. Reiji supposed that he should consider it a victory on his part that the brat wasn't being civil towards him anymore. That could only mean that he was getting under Souichi's pretty and much too girly skin but having anyone speak to him that way pissed him off regardless. "Beautiful! You haven't forgotten about our little date tonight, have you?"

Souichi sighed audibly. "No, I haven't. 'Kuru-Kuru' at nine, right?"

_That's right, you little shit. _Souichi had a lot of misplaced nerve to be sighing in his ear like that. Did the boy think he was God's gift to mankind and that Reiji should consider himself blessed to have his lanky ass gracing him with his presence? "Absolutely, Tatsumi-kun! Now please be on time. I really hate-."

"Waiting. I know."

Reiji tightened his hold on the device in his hand. He hated it when he was cut off mid-sentence. _Hated_ it. "Right you are, my boy. Well, I'll see you later, Tatsumi-kun! I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm sure. Goodbye, Miyoshi-sensei." And the kid disconnected.

Reiji let the dial tone blare in his ear for a few moments before pocketing the phone. As he went through the motions of boarding the subway line to get to his place, his thoughts turned to the man in question. Why was he even wasting his time on such a rotten person? In all honesty, people like Tatsumi Souichi disgusted him more than fat shits like Hiroshi. They were outwardly rude, vulgar, and fucking _violent_. What gave Tatsumi Souichi the divine right to parade through life so blatantly dismissive of the way society operates? Humans are wretched despicable heathens but it was their capacity to pretend that made them superior. That was what Reiji had learned in life. To get on top of everyone in this filthy world, you had to wear a different mask for every situation. Reiji knew better so, to pit it simply, he _was_ better. All these foolish pathetic beings put their entire selves on the line but not Reiji. He would _neve_r do something so idiotic.

People like Tatsumi Souichi had no control. They were quick to respond and let their emotions get the best of them. It was all 'act first and think later' with them and Reiji hated such nonsense. _Hated_ it. It was weak and that sort of behavior was better suited for the lower beasts and vermin of God's earth.

So why bother with someone like Tatsumi Souichi? Reiji could only smirk to himself in answer. It was fun. He enjoyed toying with stupid people like that so much. He practically relished the irritation and anger that he caused with his acts and knowing all the while that these people remained oblivious to his true intentions. They made the monotonous hum of repetitive life bearable. Reiji had been horrifically bored which was the reason he had moved and became an assistant professor. He had wanted to amuse himself with self-righteous pricks that ate out of Mommy and Daddy's wallets and shat out foolish idealism and tainted philosophies. What a better place to accomplish that than at a university?

He could have stripped naked and danced an Irish jig when he had met Tatsumi Souichi. Never before had he met someone so brazen and forceful. Reiji's brain had went into overdrive with all the many ways he could get the kid to acquiesce to him. Reiji took no greater pleasure in life than to have someone like Tatsumi Souichi bow to him. Figuratively or literally.

Reiji boarded the line and noticed an empty seat towards the back and moved in the direction when he paused mid-step. Seated next to the vacant seat was a tall man with hair almost as dark as his own but styled in that messy just-jumped-out-of-bed way that the younger generation was so fond of these days. Reiji couldn't understand it. While he was only fifteen years or so older than the majority of the children that he taught, he saw a gap between himself and their rotting brains nearly everyday. Reiji gently patted at his neat slicked-back locks and contemplated the other man.

Morinaga Tetsuhiro. The name popped up in Reiji's mind immediately. It usually took a lot for Reiji to deem someone memorable but this guy had stuck. His unique looks could have been a driving factor for that. Green eyes of that particular shade were few and far between in Japan, after all. But Reiji had noted the boy down for an entirely different reason that had nothing to do with his striking good looks. Morinaga Tetsuhiro was obsessively in love with Souichi and Reiji had noticed it the moment that he had walked into that laboratory. Perhaps the young man thought that he was doing a sufficient enough job hiding his true feelings about his senpai from the outside world but such a half-hearted and downright disgraceful attempt hadn't fooled Reiji in the least. You can't trick the trickster as the time-old adage went.

However, despite Morinaga's shoddy emotional coverage, Souichi himself remained oblivious to it all. Reiji could only ascertain that Tatsumi was so wrapped up in his neat little world of beakers and beating people up that he didn't notice the other boy's dopey expressions of adoration. Reiji could almost feel pity for Morinaga and his unrequited love but what else could be expected from falling for an egoist like Souichi? The fool had dug his own hole.

Reiji plastered a careful grin on his face and sat himself down next to Morinaga's slumped form. He observed the large hands that covered the boy's face from view and the broad shoulders that seemed to carry the weight of the world. It seemed that Reiji had stumbled upon a bad day. Well, a bad day for Morinaga. Reiji's day had gone quite swimmingly even when taking into consideration his unfortunate run-in with Hiroshi. "Well, hello there. Matsuyama-san, wasn't it?" Reiji exclaimed jovially as he drew his body up and out to take up more space than he needed.

Morinaga jolted in surprise and turned towards Reiji. His eyes widened for a moment before he bowed slightly in his seat. "Ah, hello, Miyoshi-sensei. It's Morinaga, actually."

Reiji allowed the grin to grow ever wider and ever emptier as he chuckled lightly. "So sorry there, m'boy. The old elevator doesn't go up as high as it used to if you know what I mean."

Morinaga shook his head. "It's okay. No harm done, sir."

"Atta boy. On my way here, _Morinaga_-san, I couldn't help but notice the defeat weighing you down in your seat. Everything okay? I know that you kids have a hard time sometimes juggling your studies and everyday life."

Morinaga hesitated for a moment before answering. "It's nothing really. I'm just having a...a really bad day."

Reiji nodded in paternal understanding. "Ahhh. Those do seem to be going around lately. In any case, my boy, you seem like a sturdy fellow. She'll come around eventually."

"Sir?" Morinaga responded with what appeared to be shock in his expression.

Reiji laughed as he threw an arm around Morinaga's shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Morinaga-san, the only thing that causes a man's form to slump in absolute defeat like that is women. Don't worry. She'll accept you one way or the other. If not, you can always knock her out and drag her home, eh?" Reiji's false laughter turned genuine at the horrified look that overcame Morinaga's face. Yes, he had to agree that the idea of anyone knocking Souichi unconscious and taking him back to their bedroom was absolutely ludicrous but it did make for entertaining fodder. "So where are you headed, Morinaga-san?" Reiji asked as he removed his arm and settled down.

"I'm just on my way home."

"So am I. No plans tonight with Tatsumi-kun?"

Resignation flashed across Morinaga's handsome features. "No. No plans."

"Really now?" Reiji said in feigned surprise. "Young kids like you? Now an old man like me has to head home when the long workday is through but you should be out drinking and having a good time. Unless you wore yourself out couple days back."

"Couple days back?" Morinaga questioned in confusion.

"Yes, when you had plans with him and I was terribly rebuffed."

"Ah!" Morinaga exclaimed in realization. "Right. We did. Wear ourselves out. I suppose."

"What did you boys do?" Reiji questioned quite neatly in his own opinion.

"What did we do?"

"Yes, what did you do," Reiji repeated with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. Inwardly, he held Morinaga under severe scrutiny. _Come on, boy. Lie for your beloved._

"We...went out drinking," Morinaga answered.

Horrible. Absolutely unacceptable. How was this kid expected to get far in life with such miserable skills in the necessary art of fibbing? "Oh, ho! Did you now? Well, I suppose it's only natural for Tatsumi-kun to want to spend his time with you rather than a bunch of old dodgers, eh?"

Morinaga remained silent. Reiji revelled in the fact that he had once again rendered a person unsure of what to say. That never got old.

"He did look awfully cute with that ribbon in his hair though, didn't he?" Reiji prodded. He supposed he was laying it on a bit thick but what the hell. Morinaga and his useless pining and loving was beginning to get on his nerves just a little. Why not play with him a bit?

Morinaga's eyes darkened causing Reiji genuine surprise. If he had been the guileless jerk that he was portraying, he would have completely missed it. But he was studying the boy intently and that wasn't just veiled anger in Morinaga's pretty green eyes. It was also wary possessiveness. It seemed that Souichi had landed himself a love-sick guard dog. _How fun_, Reiji thought with glee.

"I don't think he really appreciated that, Miyoshi-sensei," Morinaga stated firmly while keeping a respectful tone. "Senpai is a rather private person."

"Ah, not to worry! Tatsumi-kun was fine with it, I'm sure. But, would you be so kind as to tell me where the ribbon is? Poor Kudou-san doesn't look as pretty without it. All that hair in her face. It's very...how do you kids word it these days...'meh'?" So that girl's name proved useful after all. A place for everything and everything in it's place as the saying went.

"I think he might have misplaced it somewhere," Morinaga replied guiltily.

Of course this only proved to Reiji that whatever had become of the poor defenseless ribbon wasn't entirely Souichi's fault. Perhaps the fact that Souichi had needed something to tie up all that gorgeous girly-ass hair of his in the first place was something that Morinaga himself had to answer for? Most likely the ribbon had met an untimely death from Souichi's hands after Reiji had left. The kid had been giving off enough smoke to set off the detectors with his anger. Pity that. He was intending to use that ribbon to wrap up a cute little gift that he had purchased for his landlady. His rent was due that week and he didn't really feel like paying. He was certain that with a little charm here and a little fucking there, he could go rent-free for two or three months tops. But it was worth it in his office afterwards where he had a nice fit of laughter at the memory of Souichi's stony face and teenaged girl ponytail.

"Well, that's certainly a shame. No harm done though! Kudou-san was never very pretty to begin with. A real barker!" Reiji guffawed and nudged Morinaga's side with his elbow forcefully.

Morinaga said nothing as he continued to smile politely and edged himself away from Reiji's jostling. Reiji could almost respect him for that. Most people simply accepted his manhandling and the pain that he was no doubt inflicting upon them. It's amazing what he got away with when playing the fool.

"My stop is coming around soon so I'll be excusing myself, Miyoshi-sensei," Morinaga said as he stood up.

Reiji pulled him down back into his seat. "Nonsense! I get rather bored on this line and I never get very many students to talk to. It's a short line. You can circle back around, right?"

"Sir, it's a two-hour line. I would have to-."

"Marvelous! Now that we're good and comfortable, perhaps you could help shed some light for me on a particular subject?"

A sigh that was barely audible escaped from Morinaga's lips. "Sure, Miyoshi-sensei."

"I ran into Tatsumi-kun earlier today or, to be more accurate, he literally ran into me. I knocked the poor boy down. He really should eat more. He looks ready to blow away in the wind.'

"That he does," Morinaga said almost wistfully.

Bypassing the odd tone, Reiji continued. "He seemed out of sorts for someone usually so forcefully minded. Something was bothering him. Seeing as how you two are pretty close, could you tell his rather concerned teacher what it may be?"

Having spoken, Reiji had to resist the urge to lean forward into Morinaga's personal space and soak in every emotional nuance that flashed across his face. Reiji knew all too well what the problem with Souichi was. He knew when he was being lied to and, most surprisingly, Souichi had been telling him the truth. Problems with the family it seemed. It really didn't get any more useless and infantile than that.

"He didn't say anything himself?" Morinaga asked cautiously.

"I wouldn't have asked if he did, now would I?" Reiji responded jovially.

"in any case, Miyoshi-sensei, I can't discuss Senpai's personal matters. It isn't any of my business." _ Or yours, _the boy seemed to say silently.

It seemed the kid was good at shielding certain situations when it counted. Reiji would give him that. Irritatingly polite and just oozing out good guy vibes from his pores, Morinaga was one of those fabled men that were genuinely a good indicator of humanity. Unlike Souichi, Morinaga seemed the type to think before acting and if Reiji wasn't as adept at reading people as he was, he might have missed the layering of depressive guilt that lingered around the boy. _Not bad. Not bad at all._

"I suppose you're right, Morinaga-san. But if I may be so bold as to make an assumption, it has something to do with his family perhaps?"

"What makes you say that?" Morinaga replied smoothly.

Reiji was thrown for a loop. Of all the things that he had been expecting, the immediate response that had flowed out of Morinaga's mouth was not one of them. Maybe when it came to matters of the heart, this Morinaga Tetsuhiro was not one to be taken for granted?

"Growing up as an only child, I took an uncommon interest in familial relationships," Reiji answered without a hint of his miscalculation. "I suppose I was fascinated with something that I never had. Who knows?"

"You have no siblings, Miyoshi-sensei?"

"None whatsoever. Not for lack of wanting, mind you. But it wasn't fated to be. It remains just my dear mother and I to this very day."

"And your father, sir? If you don't mind my asking."

"Of course I don't mind in the least. My father is a man that I can speak openly about and with pride. He was an extraordinary man, my father was."

"Oh...he passed away?" Morinaga questioned with that irritating expression of pity that people wore when learning of the death of another's loved one. Honestly, when would they learn that death is inevitable? It happens. Nothing more to do but move on.

"Yes, he did," Reiji answered with just the right amount of grief, regret, and humbled love in his voice. "He was a police officer and was shot and killed in the line of duty."

"I'm so sorry," Morinaga said gravely.

"Why? Where you the one that killed him?" Reiji responded with amusement.

Morinaga became flustered. "Ah, well, of course not. I just wanted to-."

"Don't worry about it, my boy," Reiji replied with a reassuring pat on Morinaga's broad shoulder. "Just a little humor. My apologies. My father was a jokester all the same. When he died, the house became rather empty without the sound of his laughter filling it up. It was in those moments that I truly wished for a sibling the most. Someone to laugh and play with. Someone to spend my time with and just _love_. Do you have any siblings, Morinaga-san?"

"One," Morinaga answered with some hesitation. "An older brother."

"Ah. Someone to look up to and show you the ropes, eh?"

Green eyes flickered to the side. "For a moment, yes."

Reiji couldn't quite interpret what Morinaga could have meant with such a statement. All he could make out was that the boy was shuttered when it came to his family. Some sort of hardship must have happened there. "In any case, I know a problem when I see one. Is something happening in Tatsumi-kun's home life?"

Morinaga met Reiji's gaze. "Like I said, I really can't say, Miyoshi-sensei. I'm sorry."

"Well, I suppose I'll find out tonight, one way or another," Reiji said in a volume that he knew was loud enough for Morinaga to hear but soft enough to make the boy question exactly was it was that he had heard.

"I'm sorry, Miyoshi-sensei?" Morinaga said with startling clarity in his eyes.

"Just the ramblings of an old man," Reiji responded dismissively. "Ah, my stop seems to be coming up." Reiji absolutely adored the flash of angered annoyance on Morinaga's face at the fact that Reiji had kept him on the line to which Morinaga now had to circle around with all for a ten-minute conversation. The tiny victory was even sweeter because this really _was _Reiji's stop. He wasn't doing it just to piss the kid off.

Reiji stood up with palms automatically smoothing out his entire countenance and was pleased when Morinaga stood as well. He watched in delighted amusement as the boy bowed before him. The amusement came to a crashing halt, however, when Morinaga straightened up and looked down at Reiji. Reiji actually had to look up slightly to meet Morinaga's eyes. Since when did they make boys this tall anyway? Did his mother not only wring the cows of the world dry of their milk for his tall ass but feed him their udders and tails, too? He hadn't noticed when they had met that Morinaga was taller than he was and Reiji was not short by anyone's standards. The fact was nothing short of annoying. He hated looking up to anyone. _Hated_ it.

"Miyoshi-sensei?"

"What?" Reiji responded sharply when his thoughts were rattled by Morinaga's call. He immediately cursed himself out when Morinaga looked taken aback by the sudden change in his usually light tone. The curses were then followed by the strong desire to slap himself across the face when Morinaga's eyes filled with cautious curiosity.

"Your stop, Miyoshi-sensei," Morinaga said as handed Reiji his briefcase and gestured towards the open doors and the small crowd of people filing out through them.

_Fucking kid. Fucking kid. Fucking kid. _Reiji was positively fuming. Twice he had slipped face today. That was twice more than he _ever_ cared to happen. "Thank you, Morinaga-san!" he practically shouted. "I best hurry before those doors shut! I'll be sure to see you at school, my boy!"

Turning away, Reiji hurriedly left the sub making sure to trip over his own feet as he exited. With an audible 'oof,' he let his briefcase slip from his fingers and clatter to the ground. Shaking his head in a 'woe is me' fashion, Reiji picked up the briefcase and made his way out of the station. Checking his wristwatch, he saw that he had about four hours or so until he was to meet Souichi. It was a good thing, too. He was in no condition to be meeting and greeting people in his current state. He was upset at himself and he needed to reign in the emotion because he intended to put his best mask forward with that one.

He felt his spirits start to lighten at the prospects that came with the night ahead. He couldn't help it as a small smirk graced his handsome features. He felt like the proverbial house cat gazing trough the birdcage bars at the pretty yellow canary that swung on it's perch within. How the canary remained clueless as it was surrounded only by it's own wants and wishes in it's tiny little world. With the image of yellow feathers floating all around the house cat's contented grin as a few feathers poked out between it's sharp teeth, Reiji chuckled. Oh, this was going to be too much fun.


End file.
